Circular Economy in Cities

The report argues that cities are ideal testing grounds for the circular economy due to their density and economic importance. It identifies opportunities in construction, water, energy, e-waste, healthcare, and organic waste, while outlining financial, institutional, social, and technical barriers to transition. The document emphasizes a multi-stakeholder approach involving governments, the private sector, and individuals to move from a linear 'take-make-dispose' model to a regenerative urban system.

• Cities are critical to the global energy and emissions profile, consuming more than two-thirds of the world's energy and producing over 70% of global CO2 emissions.
• Global material consumption in cities is projected to increase significantly, rising from 40 billion tonnes in 2010 to approximately 90 billion tonnes by 2050.
• The construction sector presents a major circular opportunity, as building materials represent 40–50% of an office building's carbon footprint, and 75% of the infrastructure needed by 2050 is not yet built.
• Circular energy strategies, including smart grids and decentralized exchange, are estimated to mitigate the remaining emissions gap to meet the Paris Climate Agreement's 1.5°C goal by about half.
• Electronic waste is increasing due to shorter replacement cycles and higher disposable incomes; in 2016, the world generated 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste.
• Plastic waste management remains inefficient, with only 14% of plastic packaging collected for recycling, resulting in annual economic losses of $80–120 billion.
• Circular procurement can be implemented at three levels: system level (contractual methods), supplier level (process circularity), and product level (technical specifications).
• The transition to a circular economy faces four primary categories of barriers: financial (e.g., high transition costs), institutional (e.g., linear mindset), social (e.g., lack of awareness), and technical (e.g., planned obsolescence).
• Industrial symbiosis, where one sector uses the byproducts of another, has demonstrated significant impact, such as the UK's National Industrial Symbiosis Program which diverted 45 million tonnes of material from landfill between 2003 and 2013.

APA

World Economic Forum (2018). Circular Economy in Cities. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_paper_Circular_Economy_in_Cities_report_2018.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Circular Economy in Cities. 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_paper_Circular_Economy_in_Cities_report_2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Circular Economy in Cities |date=2018 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_paper_Circular_Economy_in_Cities_report_2018.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2018circular, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Circular Economy in Cities}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_paper_Circular_Economy_in_Cities_report_2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }