Circular economy thinking has become a central part of the global sustainability discourse. Recently this has included the emergence of circular economy ‘hubs’. This article looks at what these hubs are and the role they might play in achieving a circular economy transition. This article draws on the authors' recent pro-bono research for Scion - a New Zealand Government Crown research institute - on the potential for indigenous co-designed circular economy hubs in New Zealand. [1],[2]

The current global economic model is predominantly linear: resources are extracted, processed, consumed, and disposed of as waste.

From an economic perspective, a linear economy model remains viable so long as a supply of resources persists, and the social and environmental impacts of extraction are deemed acceptable. However, given that we operate in a world with finite resources and consumption continues to increase, the existing model is rapidly reaching its natural limits.

At some point the natural environment will simply not be able to continue to satisfy our demand for resources.  The circular economy idea is a potential response to the limitations of the linear economic model.

Leading circular economy advocacy organisation, the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, suggests that the circular economy is based on three fundamental principles: designing out waste and pollution, keeping resources in use, and restoring natural systems. [1]  

As an economic model, the circular economy not only tries to reduce environmental damage, but also promises broader opportunities and socio-economic benefits 

The current global regulatory and economic framework does not however necessarily favour the circular over the linear, in part because negative linear externalities - such as carbon emissions and extraction of natural capital – are often not adequately accounted for in the market. Nonetheless governments and private companies around the world are purporting to commit to a circular economy approach.

The circular economy can encompass a multitude of products and industry sectors. While waste management is maybe the most obvious sector for the circular economy, there are a range of other sectors in which circular economy thinking by smart design and material choice might also be applied. This includes sectors as diverse as electronics, healthcare, energy, food and additives, or green chemicals.

The emergence of circular economy hubs

One of the outcomes of this growing global interest in circular economy principles has been the emergence of physical spaces that provide resources and services to enable the development of circular economies. Commonly referred to as ‘circular economy hubs’, this sector is undergoing rapid development, and is characterised by a rich diversity of actors, structures, social values, and sectors serviced.

The intention of circular economy hubs is to operationalise sustainable and circular material loops. They can provide the practical means to move beyond traditional conceptions of reuse, repurposing and sharing, to address more fundamental questions of consumption  (e.g. by shifting values from status and fashion to frugality/sufficiency and functionality).

Circular economy hubs are intended to facilitate responses to so-called “wicked problems” of resource use, that might otherwise be challenging to implement

Circular economy hubs typically fall in to one of four categories. The first are hubs that focus on industry and community outreach by showcasing technologies. These tend to operate on a non-commercial basis, with the hub’s impact on society – rather than its capacity to make a profit – being the main outcome.

The highly-regarded “La Fàbrica del Sol” in Barcelona, which invites visitors and groups to experience the sustainable and circular principles for buildings and resource management first-hand, is an example of this model.

La Fàbrica del Sol is a demonstrative environmental education building, supported by the Barcelona City Council. It communicates ideas about environmentally conscious, waste-reducing architecture to the general public by letting them view and interact with an operational building that includes advanced circular feature such as a geothermal heat pump, natural ventilation and a vertical garden.

The second category of circular economy hubs emphasise business networking and knowledge sharing. Again these are non-commercial and are generally fully funded by government, participating industries or academia. These might have a physical space, to meet for events and workshops, but their primary focus is on developing and disseminating resources on circular economy practices and facilitating cooperation between entities working in the circular economy.

The “Bloom” network, which operates in a range of EU countries to boost bioeconomy research and innovation, provides an example of this approach. The Bloom project is comprised of five hubs spread out across several regions of Europe. While the Spanish and Polish hubs focus on food and agriculture, the Austrian & German hubs concentrate on innovative circular materials, the Dutch hub on bio-chemicals and bio-plastics, and the Nordic hub on wood-based products.

The Bloom network hubs work in conjunction with each other to provide co-creation workshops and outreach materials. The project aims to establish a far-reaching bioeconomy community and avoid fragmentation of knowledge, action and awareness.

The third type of circular economy hub is the physical maker and work space. Unlike the first two typologies this category of hub is normally capable of generating an income (albeit modest) by providing equipment and space for companies and individuals investigating circular economy practices.

For example, OpenCell in London is a collection of shipping containers, each hosting a start-up that conceptualizes and tests their recycled or bio-derived products onsite. The rent is subsidized and the agglomeration of bioeconomy entrepreneurs is beneficial for idea sharing and seen as a benefit to the wider community and society. 

The fourth category of circular economy hubs are those that provide physical pilot plant and production facilities (including so-called ‘slow factories’). They work either as testing facilities which allow piloting and scale-up of technology or host a range of start-ups with actual production capacity. While this type of hub has the capacity to operate on a fully commercial basis, they may also have some degree of reliance on grants, donations or volunteer work.

An example of this type of circular economy hub is Plant Chicago. Plant Chicago is a 93,500 sq. ft former meat packing plant that hosts over a dozen food businesses in a hub dedicated to inhouse circularity. These businesses produce their own individual products while harnessing synergies from mutual waste utilisation, (eg. using spent grain from the on-site brewery to grow gourmet mushrooms in the building’s repurposed cool store). Plant Chicago itself is a non-profit organization, but the hub building is owned by a commercial property developer.

The industries that circular economy hubs focus on

The choice of hub design depends on the available space, the local resources available, the regional economy, the regulatory environment and, of course, the particular industries being targeted. 

The availability of capital is often a defining factor. For example, while plastic, textile and chemical production hold significant economic and environmental potential they tend to require more complex machinery and less commonly known technologies. Whereas for health and personal care, products can range from simple nature derived balms to highly bio-engineered microorganisms, hence the capital intensity varies substantially.

Our research suggested that, to date, most hubs have specialised across multiple industry sectors and relatively few hubs only work in one sector

The diversification of sectors may reflect the potential synergies that exist including where multiple waste streams are received and utilised (which is more likely if multiple sectors are involved). There is, however, a trade-off with the machinery and knowledge expertise required where a larger number of sectors are addressed by a hub.

Hub outreach as a central design feature

Our research also reinforced that a particularly common feature of hub design is providing for outreach on concepts and practices of the circular economy. More than 80% of the hubs that we analysed included a broader engagement component (although there was considerable variation in the form of this outreach).

A common example of targeted outreach is curated employee training and workshops for government and business actors. For example, the London Waste and Recycling Board trains London Borough officers to become “champions” of the circular economy by sponsoring online training and attendance at the Circular Economy 100 Acceleration Workshop. This has led to staff embedding circular economy practices in new local housing developments.

Beyond providing an educational service, encouraging industry professionals to attend circular economy workshops or training can also contribute to building a circular ‘community of practice’ and enabling networks of circularity champions within different industries. Communities of practice can be particularly valuable for helping smaller scale businesses to participate in circular economy practices and keep economic value within local communities.

Circular economy hub outreach can also involve communicating the value of circular practices to the broader public.

Most hubs we researched included some form of public outreach in their programming

This can include facilitating tours and visits, running workshops and classes, or simply providing a venue for general community events. This recognises that the transition to a circular economy is as much about societal changes in consumption habits and daily waste behaviours as it is about technological change. Hence, the raison d'etre for many hubs is ensuring the benefits are shared rather than privatised and inspiring communities to become local co-producers and active neighbours and citizens.

Community is, of course, not homogenous and it is important that circular economy hubs respond to local context. This can not only reduce barriers to community involvement, but can also help hubs benefit from unique local knowledge and understanding .

For example, Scion’s Te Ōhanga hub program in New Zealand seeks to engage local Māori stakeholders in circular economy projects in the forestry sector. The Te Ōhanga hub program draws on existing relationships with tangata whenua in regional New Zealand to design research projects, educational programming, and employment opportunities. This will not only help the hubs become part of the communities in which they are located but also provides a unique avenue to engage with first culture approaches to circular economics and resource use.

Moving from concept to action

The circular economy is a leading concept in contemporary environmental policy and a range of governments and businesses around the world have now committed to reforming resource use processes using circular economy thinking.[4] While the increasing interest in circular economy thinking is promising, there is always the risk of it just becoming another “buzz word”.

The implementation of circular economy hubs provides a potential approach to ensure that the circular economy narrative is matched by action. A range of design features and choices exist to enable the hub to be right for the context. Through careful, case-specific design it is possible that circular economy hubs can help transition to a society more focussed on considerate consumption and significantly reduced material and carbon footprints.

Jillian Neuberger is a recent graduate of the University of Oxford's MSc in Environmental Change and Management, and a professional dedicated to sustainable development solutions. Jillian's areas of focus include natural resource management, marine ecosystems, and environmental public policy. 

Till Weidner is a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science investigating the environmental benefits of combining urban agriculture with organic waste management. He is also passionate about a community driven sharing economy for private sufficiency and public well-being.

Ed Steane is reading an MSc in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford. Ed’s background is in environment law and policy and is also currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Urbanists Magazine.

[1] Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development “Circular Bio-economy Models and Practices - An Overview” 2019, Available at: https://9cd84829-b277-4a58-919f-686ed83bf178.filesusr.com/ugd/a200fc_50f0e97898d54ff98b26d4f623c07cd8.pdf. The Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, now known as Six Degrees – Oxford Consultancy for Sustainability, is a think-tank run by University of Oxford students that provides governments, NGOs and corporates with innovative, sustainable solutions.

[2] Scion specialises in research, science and technology development for the forestry, wood product, wood-derived materials, and other biomaterial sectors and is seeking to transition New Zealand to a circular bioeconomy through thinking and practice. For more information on Scion see: https://www.scionresearch.com/.

[3] Further details available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept.

[4] For a further summary of how circular economy thinking is being incorporated into modern environmental policy, University of Oxford academic Dr Kate Raworth’s recent book “Doughnut economics: seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017) provides an accessible introduction.