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The World Economic Forum (WEF) partnered with the Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) to manage tear-down waste from a 2015 event at the Cape Town International Conference Centre. By identifying resource types and volumes two months in advance, WISP connected the WEF with solution providers to repurpose pine wood, carpeting, promotional materials, and PVC banners. This initiative diverted 11.8 tonnes of waste from landfills, saved 10 tonnes of fossil greenhouse gas emissions, and generated approximately R242,000 in total economic benefits.

The document outlines the potential for industrial symbiosis by using waste foundry sand (WFS) as a secondary material in sectors like brickmaking and road construction. It highlights the economic benefits for foundries and off-takers, the regulatory hurdles involving waste classification and management licenses, and the technical requirements for processing WFS to ensure product quality.

The Green Economy Strategy Framework for the Western Cape focuses on driving business opportunity and investment to become the "lowest carbon province & leading green economic hub of the African continent". Key priorities include renewable energy, where 60% of the 64 REIPPP projects were developed by Western Cape-based developers, and the Atlantis SEZ, which attracted Gestamp with a R220 million investment expected to create 200 permanent jobs. The framework also highlights the WISP initiative, which completed 11 business synergies in six months, and special initiatives such as the Better Living Challenge, a GREEN Finance Support facility, and RIA Waste to support green job creation.

ACA Threads transitioned from using single-use virgin polypropylene spools to a buy-back and recycling system. By partnering with an injection moulder and social organisations, the company recovered 7 tons of material from landfills over five years, saving over R460,000 and generating income for disabled persons' organisations and local community projects.

The document details how the Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) connected Enviroserv, a waste management company, with ComboTimber Structures, a pallet refurbisher. This collaboration shifted ComboTimber Structures' business model from manufacturing virgin wood pallets to using second-hand materials, resulting in 79 tonnes of wood diverted from landfills and the creation of three permanent jobs.

This case study examines the role of electronic waste (e-waste) repair and redistribution in South Africa, focusing on The Appliance Bank as a model for integrating circular economy principles with social upliftment. It highlights how diverting e-waste from landfills through refurbishment can create jobs for unemployed men and provide affordable technology to low-income communities.

The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) is a free service delivered by GreenCape and initiated by the Western Cape Government. It employs an industrial symbiosis approach to match unused resources—including energy, water, and materials—from one company to another to create economic and environmental benefits. The programme specifically targets gaps faced by SMEs in implementing resource and energy efficiency, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions and landfill costs while increasing profits and innovation.

The document details a synergy facilitated by the Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) between Pallet Cycle, a recycled timber manufacturer, and Cabrico, a clay brick manufacturer. In early 2020, Cabrico took 4.6 tonnes of wood waste from Pallet Cycle to use as fuel for its kiln and dryers, resulting in a reduction of 1.7 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and decreased reliance on fossil fuels like coal. The partnership provided economic benefits through lower fuel and material costs for Cabrico and increased storage space for Pallet Cycle.

The document argues that the circular economy is a strategic tool for businesses to navigate a 'decade of polycrisis' characterized by supply chain uncertainty and material insecurity. It focuses specifically on the City of Cape Town, noting that the city is expected to run out of landfill space by 2035 and currently has the highest landfill gate fees among South African metros. The guide introduces a 7-step process for CEOs to transition from linear to circular models, ranging from mapping resource flows to influencing supply chains. It details '9R' strategies—such as refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, and recycle—supported by local examples like Zerocrete and Barloworld Equipment. Additionally, it outlines regulatory pressures, including mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for sectors like packaging and electronics, and a provincial target for 100% organic waste diversion from landfills in the Western Cape by 2027.

The document examines the intersection of the circular economy and international trade, highlighting how shifting from primary to secondary raw materials can significantly reduce carbon emissions. It discusses the growth of secondary material markets, the rise of circular business models like sharing economies and product longevity, and the need for trade policies to eliminate barriers to circular goods and services. The authors advocate for international standards, the use of bilateral and regional free trade agreements, and a more proactive role for the WTO in facilitating a low-carbon circular economy.

The report advocates for a 'solve for pattern' approach to global crises, using energy efficiency and renewable technologies as a model for broader resource management. It argues that the U.S. and other nations can achieve significant reductions in oil and electricity use through technical innovations like 'hypercars' and efficient lighting, which are often cheaper than expanding supply. The authors contend that these efficiencies can simultaneously improve economic health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, slow nuclear proliferation by removing the need for civilian nuclear power, and enhance global security by reducing dependence on foreign oil.

The RMI Headquarters is a 4,000-square-foot experimental bioshelter in Colorado designed for extreme resource efficiency. It utilizes passive solar design, superinsulation, and advanced glazing to eliminate the need for a conventional heating system, achieving a 99% reduction in space- and water-heating energy. The structure integrates a residential home, a year-round greenhouse for food production, and an office space. Key technologies include krypton-filled Heat Mirror windows, a 1,500-gallon superinsulated water storage tank, and a combination of grid-interactive and stand-alone photovoltaic systems. The document details the building's construction, including its 16-inch thick masonry walls with polyurethane foam cores, and provides economic data showing that the efficiency investments paid for themselves in approximately ten months based on 1983-84 technology.

The text examines the gap between theoretical 'perfect' markets and real-world economic behavior, specifically regarding the under-investment in energy and resource efficiency. It identifies failures in capital allocation, organizational inertia, and perverse regulatory incentives that discourage sustainability. The author proposes solutions such as 'negawatt' markets, decoupled utility earnings, and improved informational feedback loops to align profit motives with the preservation of natural capital.

The text outlines six categories for increasing industrial energy and material productivity: design, new technologies, controls, corporate culture, new processes, and saving materials. It advocates for a shift from linear 'once-through' material flows to circular systems inspired by nature (biomimicry), suggesting that systematic application of these efficiencies could reduce total material flows by a factor of one hundred or more.

The text presents 'green development' as a superior paradigm for real estate, demonstrating through case studies that integrating passive design, high-efficiency technology, and human-centric planning reduces costs and increases financial returns. It highlights the economic benefits of improved labor productivity due to better indoor environments and argues that current market incentives for architects and developers are 'perverse' because they reward inefficiency. The document details specific technical innovations in lighting, insulation, and appliances, while advocating for 'New Urbanism' to reduce infrastructure costs and restore community vitality.

The text advocates for 'whole-system engineering,' a design approach that optimizes entire systems rather than individual components. It introduces the concept of 'tunneling through the cost barrier,' where extreme efficiency can actually reduce total capital costs by eliminating the need for expensive equipment. Through examples in industrial pumping, building design, and office renovations, the author demonstrates that integrating design and 'thinking backward' from downstream to upstream creates compounding savings and multiple benefits.

The document advocates for replacing the 'linear economy'—characterized by resource extraction and waste—with a 'circular economy' that emphasizes recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing. It outlines the environmental and economic benefits of circularity, including significant potential cost savings in manufacturing and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The briefing also highlights corporate examples from Philips, H&M, and Trina Solar, and details several Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) projects focused on circular procurement, plastic waste management, and sustainable production-consumption systems.

The report argues that environmental improvements can enhance competitiveness and proposes a strategy for a European eco-efficient economy based on resource efficiency, new technology markets, and stable global carbon pricing. It emphasizes the need for integrated governance, support for SMEs, and international cooperation to prevent carbon leakage and drive global climate action.

The PEGaSus project (2017–2020) addresses the inefficiency of phosphorus (P) use in European monogastric livestock production, specifically pigs and chickens. With the EU importing 90% of its mineral P, the project seeks to reduce import dependency and environmental pollution by improving P bioavailability, reducing emissions from husbandry, and developing governance strategies to minimize runoff into aquatic ecosystems. Key activities include bio-economic modelling, animal and lab experiments on P utilization, and the quantification of P reuse potential from manure, bone, and slurry.

The authors propose a heuristic framework to bridge the gap between governance research and technological innovation systems (TIS). By integrating the TIS approach with the multi-level perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions, the framework allows researchers to analyse the causal relationship between governance arrangements—defined by who governs, how they govern, and what is governed—and the functionality of an innovation system over time. The authors argue that the effectiveness of governance depends on the TIS's stability and its alignment with existing socio-technical regimes.