These Cities are Advancing a Circular Economy: Part 1

Urban centers span a relatively minute portion of the world, yet they eat into 75% of natural resources and generate over 50% of solid waste and up to 60% of greenhouse gases, according to an Ellen MacArthur Foundation report. But since many cities are rich in resources, and located in highly concentrated areas, they are uniquely positioned to turn this high-consumption and waste pattern around by building circular economy models.

Many of the budding models, to help maximize resources and keep materials in circulation as long as possible, have begun in cities, with initiatives around manufacturing, fashion, and food, for example.

Cleveland, Ohio, is among municipalities that has begun on a path to advance a circular economy. The city received a $476,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to launch an initiative called Circular Cleveland.

Introduced in 2021, Circular Cleveland is supported by community development funding intermediary Cleveland Neighborhood Progress; the City of Cleveland; grassroots grant maker Neighborhood Connections; and NGO Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Some of what’s planned, or already launched, are a composting pilot at Cleveland’s oldest continuously running market, which draws 100 vendors a year; a student-run clothing “Fixit Clinic” that was housed in a seven-story university innovation center; and efforts to incubate waste reduction innovations, with guidance from retired executives.  

Circular Cleveland started with recycling, but has gone further, with recognition that recycling is not the end all.

The idea is to change how people consume; that’s key to fostering a circular economy, says Divya Sridhar, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, manager of Climate Resiliency and Sustainability.

As key is a strong partnership between the community and the city as an institution.

“We need to learn from the community their needs and wants for a healthy, safe, and happy life in Cleveland. Then you have the city of Cleveland – the ones who set up infrastructure – to launch recycling and go on to build beyond,” Sridhar says.

Cleveland is one of 15 municipalities that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation works with, one-on-one, through the Foundation’s Cities program, helping them develop policies to advance a circular economy. Cleveland stands out in its community approach, according to Sarah O’Carroll, Cities Lead, Institutions, Governments & Cities at Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

“Most cities consult with NGOs, not-for-profits, civil society organizations, universities, etc. over their roadmap [to identify priorities and direct resources] and the vision and priorities that site for the future. Cleveland has done that but also has circular economy ambassadors that represent different neighborhoods to provide input,” she says.

That’s a positive she surmises because the shift from a linear to circular trajectory needs to happen from the ground up.  

“Because Cleveland’s communities are so much a part of road mapping policy development, there is real potential to make sure this transition happens in a way that benefits the local economy.

The roadmap is actionable. Otherwise, you get high-level documents, and priorities are set based on those [high-level assessments],” O’Carroll says.

Cleveland’s roadmap has four focus areas, each with recommended actions: 1) Circular Manufacturing, 2) Built Environment, 3) Getting More Value From Resources, and 4) Pollution and (Bio)Remediation.

A program that’s been well received that falls under “Getting More Value From Resources” is a Fixit Clinic to repair clothes and promote reuse. It was held at Sears think(box), an open-access innovation center at Case Western Reserve University.

“What made it successful is that one of our ambassadors and two of our grant recipients came out with their sewing machines, supplies, and skills. They offered themselves as mentors, and [at the same time] they are networking,” says Cathi Lehn, Cleveland Office of Sustainability, Sustainable Cleveland manager.

The city is planning for the next Fixit Clinic. It’s identified more ambassadors and grant recipients who are interested in working together to bring more of them to the community and is thinking of expanding the focus to repairs of homes and other building structures –and perhaps other materials and goods in time.

But there’s a greater hopeful ambition than growing the program.

“The goal is to change how we consume and to foster new ways to think about designing,” Sridhar says.

Currently, manufacturers are not thinking about the end of life of their product. They need to think about the end of life beginning at the design stage, designing so it can be reused, she explains.

Cleveland’s also looking to curb food waste and will site an initial diversion plan at its historic West Side Market to include composting and edible food recovery. The market provides food to more than a million visitors a year.

“As a cornerstone establishment in the Ohio City neighborhood, the West Side Market is an optimal location to demonstrate wasted food diversion,” Lehn says

“But while this program will be a key first step in reducing waste, recovering food, and getting more from our resources, we are also looking to identify best practices and differing models to expand residential composting services.”

Among other work born out of Cleveland Circular is Cleveland Sews, started by a local entrepreneur. The project has diverted almost a ton of vinyl posters and other materials from NFL draft activities that were used to make bags. The grant recipient’s goal is to build a workforce to create more new items from discarded materials.

A Clevelander who runs an organization that rescues and redistributes food from restaurants, and residents who started a recycling service when COVID brought the city’s services to a temporary halt, are among others who tapped into grants administered by Neighborhood Connections. All 40,771 was for projects based on circularity principals.

Some of Circular Cleveland’s partners narrow in on specific focuses. One is Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) who identifies grant recipient candidates qualified to address pollution and waste and ultimately to incubate new business ideas in this space.

SCORE is informing the city on what the grants should look like and will mentor recipients from idea conception to implementation. 

Cleveland Circular also works with Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth (MAGNET), a nonprofit that supports the manufacturing sector. 

“There is a lot that can happen in the manufacturing space [to transition to a circular model]. And we think they might be good partners long term,” Sridhar says.

MAGNET is hosting a pitch grant, and Circular Cleveland will provide prize money for winning innovations.

Lehn says of the 30-month initiative, the work to date, and what’s to come: “We are not doing this alone. We can’t. We have to bring in partners and stakeholders to guide us in the development of the roadmap and to then move us forward in the implementation of the plan as we transition Cleveland to a circular economy. It will take all of us working together.”