UrbanCircle

The UrbanCircle project, an initiative by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), focuses on transforming urban waste streams—including wastewater, excreta, and food waste—into valuable products like fertilisers, biogas, and dry fuels. Using the Naivasha sub-county in Kenya as an initial study site, the project employs a three-step process: inventorying waste and demand, co-developing future scenarios with stakeholders, and using the REVAMP (Resource Value Mapping) tool to estimate economic costs and benefits. The initiative argues that shifting from a linear to a circular economy can reduce environmental degradation, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and create new business opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

• Poor sanitation in Kenya is estimated to cost the national economy 27 billion Kenyan Shillings annually, which is approximately US$324 million or nearly 1% of the national GDP, resulting from productivity losses, healthcare costs, and premature deaths.
• Urban waste streams, such as wastewater, excreta, and food waste, can be processed into sustainable products including biogas, dry fuels, and agricultural fertilisers that are as effective as or more effective than chemical alternatives.
• The UrbanCircle project in Naivasha, Kenya, utilizes a specific methodology involving waste stream inventory, stakeholder-led scenario development, and the REVAMP tool to quantify potential benefits such as healthcare savings, energy production, and greenhouse gas emissions avoidance.
• The transition to a circular economy in urban centers helps mitigate climate change by reducing the release of methane from rotting food, crop waste, and excreta.

APA

Ddiba, D., Andersson, K., & Ogol, T. (2018). UrbanCircle. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sei-brief-2018-urbancircle.pdf

Chicago

Ddiba, Daniel, Kim Andersson, and Tom Ogol. UrbanCircle. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2018. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sei-brief-2018-urbancircle.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ddiba |first1=Daniel |last2=Andersson |first2=Kim |last3=Ogol |first3=Tom |title=UrbanCircle |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sei-brief-2018-urbancircle.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ddiba2018urbancircle, author = {Ddiba, Daniel and Andersson, Kim and Ogol, Tom}, title = {{UrbanCircle}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sei-brief-2018-urbancircle.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }