More value, less waste central to sustainable urban economy

Cities have to move to sustainable ways of doing business to become resilient. Local governments are best suited to promote, advocate and build a conducive environment for sustainable resource management, and adopt energy efficienct practices to reduce emissions. The circular economy concept can be of great help in the transition.

More people are moving to cities for want of better life and opportunities. Cities are places of concentrated economic activities. The significant contribution of the urban economy to national GDPs is as high as 85 per cent in many countries. For generating such a high level of growth, cities consume 75 per cent of natural resources used globally and account for 60 to 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions the world over. The trend is not sustainable in the long run, and cities will have to find ways to transform themselves by adopting energy and resource efficienct practices. The growth in urban economic activities is vital to the fiscal prosperity of nations. With cities laying a new roadmap for their post-pandemic recovery, streamlining and integrating economic activities with their sustainable agenda could be helpful to move from the linear model of ‘take-make and waste’ to circularity.
A report published by the World Economic Forum in 2019 illustrated that over 90 billion tonnes of materials were extracted and processed in one year. And it contributed to almost half of global CO2 emissions that year. Such regular activities for running economic activities are depleting finite resources and causing extensive CO2 emissions. A lack of a holistic approach to urban management leads to financial losses due to inefficient resource and waste management and increasing negative environmental impacts. Cities are relatively more sensitive to the effects of climate change since a majority of them are located in coastal regions. Factors such as inefficient or lack of integrated land-use and transport system, lack of planning and grouping of residential complexes, etc., can lead to exposure of the vulnerability
of cities.
Cities have to look at the transition to circularity as an approach to sustainable development, prosperity, minimizing resource consumption by keeping materials in use for as long as possible and maximizing their trade and industry value. Since the concentration and diversity of activities in cities, urban centres are best suited to drive the circular economy agenda.

Potential of circular economy

A report published by the United Nations Industrial and Development Organisation starts with an explainer of the Japanese concept of ‘mottainai’. It says, “It is a shame for something to go to waste without having made use of its potential in full — something that happens with regularity in a linear economy.” Indians, too, have followed this concept for ages. Indians are well-known for using things for different purposes during their life cycle, and the products were also made that way. Now, the products are used for a shorter time or, in some cases, for single-time use.
Keeping the products in use for the maximum possible time ensures more saving for Indian households. People used jute bags instead of polythene bags. A few decades ago, people started to discard things for want of new things. It is not just wasting valuable natural resources, energy but also creating mountains of landfills in cities.
The ever-evolving fashion industry is a good example. With fashion changing in months, people discard their clothes sooner than required. It is valid for other sectors such as automobile, textile, consumer electronics, etc. People are mindlessly consuming and discarding things. The way people consume today puts a severe strain on available resources that cannot be sustained for long. Unsustainable consumption is one of the primary reasons for many climatic, environmental and urban problems.
These days, the concept of circularity and reuse seems to be non-existent in our business, industrial and urban activities. This could be because of the lack of an accommodating environment available. Cities, especially urban local bodies, have significant responsibility for developing and promoting such systems locally. The promotion of a circular economy in cities can decouple natural resources and high energy demand from development. The circular economy can provide social, environmental, and economic benefits to urban centres in the long run and help them be on the sustainability track without compromising on their development agenda. With a high concentration of resources and having proximity to related economic activities, cities are well suited to drive resource efficiency by keeping the materials in use for the longest possible time.

Innovations in circularity

Cities will have to leverage this advantage by creating a supportive ecosystem for businesses to adopt circular economy practices. Helping stakeholders and local businesses to develop industrial symbiosis is the key. For this, Indian cities can take a cue from the experiments in China, Korea and many European countries. China developed Eco Parks, South Korea assisted businesses with incentives and tax benefits to reduce their dependency on imported materials, and Japan encouraged companies and individuals for resource efficiency. There are certain areas where innovation can help in implementing circular economy strategies. For example, Panaji city, with the help of some external agencies and their expertise, has achieved zero landfill city targets by developing composting stations and manufacturing units that recycle waste to create new products. Every city can do this by interacting with the city leadership and learn from their experiments.
All India Institute of Local Self-Government has taken initiatives and launched the United Network of Circular Cities during the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi in 2020. The platform is designed to help urban local bodies access knowledge resources on the circular economy, share their ideas with domain experts and develop their strategies based on available local resources and skilled workforce.
At their end, all cities and urban local bodies can develop regional mechanisms to support the transition from linear to the circular economy. For this, they will have to facilitate dialogues between stakeholders, establish a local framework for collaborations and build supporting infrastructure by ensuring that businesses and industries ready to move towards a circular economy are incentivized and recognized for their sustainable move. In addition, cities should also benefit from the networks run by international and national agencies and augment their transition to circularity.