Governing the circular economy

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the governance of the circular economy (CE) in urban settings. It identifies key barriers to implementation—such as administrative silos and a lack of holistic data—and provides four strategic recommendations for urban policymakers to accelerate the transition toward resource-efficient and resilient urban systems.

• Urban areas have a disproportionate environmental impact, consuming over 75% of natural resources, producing 50% of global waste, and emitting up to 80% of greenhouse gases, despite occupying only 2% of the Earth's surface.
• Local governments face four primary challenges when implementing circular economy strategies: a lack of tools and data for assessment, administrative fragmentation and silos, a prevalence of linear 'take, make, dispose' thinking, and a lack of scale to accelerate these strategies.
• Many cities maintain a narrow, technocentric view of the circular economy, focusing primarily on recycling, waste, and energy recovery, while neglecting the social and behavioural impacts necessary for a truly transformative transition.
• To establish an effective circular economy, urban policymakers should create a shared vision involving academia, businesses, government, and the public, and prioritize strategies based on material flows and consumption-based emissions.
• Public procurement is identified as a critical municipal instrument for accelerating the circular economy; for example, in Sweden, local governments and agencies issue 68% of all public procurements.
• Successful circular transitions require multi-level collaboration, including platforms for knowledge exchange within municipalities, coordination with national and regional governments, and partnerships with civil society and knowledge institutes.
• There is a significant gap in knowledge regarding how to scale circular economy projects from pilots to city-wide implementation due to insufficient evaluation procedures and a lack of reliable local data on energy and material flows.
• Urban Living Labs are recommended as effective spaces to experiment with and co-create novel circular economy policies and practices in real-life environments with various stakeholders.

APA

Rezaie, S., Vanhuyse, F., André, K., & Henrysson, M. (2022). Governing the circular economy. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/circular-economy-urban-policymakers-2.pdf

Chicago

Rezaie, Shogofa, Fedra Vanhuyse, Karin André, and Maryna Henrysson. Governing the circular economy. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/circular-economy-urban-policymakers-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rezaie |first1=Shogofa |last2=Vanhuyse |first2=Fedra |last3=André |first3=Karin |last4=Henrysson |first4=Maryna |title=Governing the circular economy |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=September 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/circular-economy-urban-policymakers-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rezaie2022governing, author = {Rezaie, Shogofa and Vanhuyse, Fedra and André, Karin and Henrysson, Maryna}, title = {{Governing the circular economy}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/circular-economy-urban-policymakers-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }