STAGE 3

Implementing circular economy interventions in the NDC

Stages:

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

Overview

Stage 3 guides the user in the implementation of the selected circular economy interventions through policy instruments. This includes selecting the policy instruments (step 3.1), assessing their feasibility, establishing indicators, and linking the process back to the NDC (step 3.2) as well as exploring financing for implementation (step 3.3).

The objective of the policy instruments for each circular economy intervention is to achieve the GHG emissions reductions identified in stage 1.

As circular economy is a systemic approach, the policy instruments need to be coordinated as a coherent ‘package’ whereby the instruments are reinforcing and complementary towards affecting the same GHG emission source or sink. Countries can use a combination of instruments, including incentives, information tools, voluntary schemes, standards and legal restrictions, among others. Collaboration across the value chain is also critical during the implementation phase in order to ensure that the relevant government, businesses, and financial actors are working towards the same goal.

Countries can include information on their need for international support surrounding finance, technologies and/or capacity building to enable the implementation of the policies and measures to achieve GHG emissions reduction targets in the NDC. These aspects can be defined at this stage.

Checklist

By the end of stage 3, users will have:

Identified a coherent set of policy instruments for the implementation of selected circular economy interventions

Assessed the feasibility of policy instruments, including costs and benefits, and established indicators to measure and track the implementation of the selected policy instruments

Explored financing for implementation, including leveraging NDC implementation, financing, and investment plans and other mechanisms

SECTORAL EXAMPLES FOR STAGE 3 CASE STUDIES

SECTORAL EXAMPLES FOR STAGE 3

Sectoral examples for Stage 3

Food loss and waste

Appropriate policy instruments at various stages in the value chain from production, processing, and storage to transport and consumption can be identified and implemented in stage 3. Financial resources can be mobilised through public-private partnerships, voluntary agreements, and campaigns.

Examples of instruments include:

Public awareness and extension programs, curbside pickup of organic waste and material recovery facilities in Dominica.
A law introducing mandatory food waste assessments for all food service operators in France.

Examples of indicators include: Vanuatu included “total number of people receiving training in food storage and preservation per year” as an indicator in their agriculture sector.

The full case for food loss and waste can be found in Chapter 4 of the user guide.

Buildings and construction

A coordinated set of reinforcing policy instruments can be selected to implement the circular economy intervention.

Such policy instruments can include the revision of building codes to address embodied impact of materials, mandated prefabrication and modular construction, support for industrial symbiosis in cement production and/or other materials, and procurement guidelines to support the use of sustainable construction materials in the design and planning stages. For example, by integrating a minimum percentage of recycled material within the procured building material, i.e. timber, aggregates, steel, which can be a target for the NDC.

Financial and non-financial resources can be mobilised by key market players and in the NDC, countries can include information on the need for international support on finance, technologies and/or capacity building to support implementation.

The full case for buildings and construction can be found in Chapter 4 of the user guide.

Tools and resources for the sectoral examples can found in the Resource Library.

CASE STUDIES

Case studies

South Sudan

Using public procurement to implement a circular economy intervention in the construction sector

An extract from South Sudan’s updated NDC:

“Given that the majority of GHG emissions from the construction sector result from the use of imported goods such as cement, clay and limestone (SCP-HAT, 2015), South Sudan should develop policies encouraging sustainable procurement. For example, instead of procuring regular cement, South Sudan can incentivize the procurement of cement mixed with fly ash, which will have a smaller emissions footprint,” Ministry of Environment and Forestry, 2021, Juba.

The Republic of Korea

Industrial Symbiosis

By developing systematic waste and by-product networks among companies, the Ulsan Mipo and Onsan Industrial Park in South Korea collectively reduced 279,000 tons of oil equivalent in energy use between 2005 and 2016, resulting in a 665,000-ton reduction in CO2 emissions. They also reused 79,000 tons of water and 40,000 tons of waste and by-products.

Source: The World Bank (2018). Eco-Industrial Parks Emerge as an Effective Approach to Sustainable Growth. World Bank News.

France

Consumer information and textiles

In 2020, France implemented an anti-waste and circular economy bill, aiming to transform the system of production, distribution and consumption from a linear to a circular economic model and eliminate waste and pollution from the design stage. As part of this bill, new regulations are upcoming to ensure that fashion and textile companies provide consumers with information revealing the environmental impact of products sold, and to prohibit the destruction of new, unsold textile merchandise except where they represent a health hazard.

Source: UNEP (2023). Sustainability and circularity in the textiles value chain.

Philippines

Implementation of a roadmap for low-carbon and resource efficient tourism

The Philippines developed a roadmap for low-carbon and resource-efficient tourism with the overall target to reduce GHG emissions by 30 percent between 2020 and 2030 in tourism value chains, mainly hotels and venues. It was established that emissions came from:

Generation of electricity
The products and services that hotels procure (such as food, plastics, textiles etc.)
The waste that they generate
Fossil fuels used directly by hotels

The main sub-targets of the roadmap include for example a 50 percent food waste reduction target. Hotels and destinations were given guidance with actions to meet the targets. In the country, 42 participating businesses are implementing the integrated action framework through the use of the resource efficiency and GHG measurement, 24 businesses have submitted GACMO tool data to understand the level of investment needed for further GHG reductions solutions, the payback period, the cost reduction, and the GHG reduction percentage.

In terms of results, some businesses have reported up to 60 percent reduction in food waste over a 2 year period and others up to 77 percent reduction in waste generation and up to 83 percent GHG emission reduction in the same period with associated economic benefits.

Sources: UNEP (2023). Transforming Tourism Value Chains; UNEP (2019). Roadmap for low-carbon and resource-efficient tourism in the Philippines; Club Paradise Palawan Sustainability Reporting Fact Sheet; Holiday Inn & Suites Makati Sustainability Reporting Fact Sheet; and Nature’s village resort Sustainability Reporting Fact Sheet.

Jamaica

Example of a national ban (legislation) in Jamaica

“Ban on single-use plastics including single-use plastic bags, packaging made wholly or in part of expanded polystyrene foam and single-use drinking straws made wholly or in part of PE or PP. Single-use plastic bags under the ban are those with dimensions not exceeding 610 x 610 m” (24””x 24”), with a thickness of 0.03 mm (1.2 mils), which are to be banned by 1 January 2021, and of 0.06 mm (2.5 mils), which are to be banned on or after 1 January 2021, regardless of whether the bag is, or is labelled as, degradable, biodegradable, oxo-degradable, photo degradable or compostable.”

Source: Jamaica Natural Resources Conservation Authority (Plastic Packaging Materials Prohibition), Order of 2018 and the Trade (Plastic Packaging Materials Prohibition).