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- Circular economy businesses create local skilled jobs, especially in recycling, repair and refurbishment sectors (e.g. consumer electronics).
- Circular goods and services reduce costs for low-income households through access to affordable refurbished and second-hand goods or via leasing models.
- Informal waste collection is widespread in developing countries. Circular economy practices such as product sharing, reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling offer opportunities to formalize the informal waste collection sector in developing countries, thereby creating secure and safe jobs, improving livelihoods and raising living standards.
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- Regenerative and restorative farming and agro-ecology practices can enhance local food security and livelihoods, for instance through regenerative grazing and no-till farming.
- Circular agricultural practices – such as composting and the use of biofertilizers – make better use of agricultural by-products. These practices promote nutrient cycling, improve soil health, and thereby enable more efficient, resilient and affordable food production systems.
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- Reducing pollution and mismanaged waste through the circular economy and resource efficiency can improve public health outcomes, for example by reducing pollution-related illnesses and preventing community exposure to toxic chemicals and materials.
- Circular product design, using non-toxic materials and sustainable manufacturing processes, would reduce the exposure of workers and consumers to harmful substances.
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- Embedding circular economy principles in educational curriculums would promote lifelong learning and skills development in sustainable practices, helping to prepare future generations for a world in which expertise in sustainable resource management and circular technologies may be key to securing green jobs.
- Vocational training programmes on circularity for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) can help students learn practical ‘hands-on’ skilled jobs as well as support a just transition from the linear economy to the circular economy by retraining those at risk of job losses during the transition.
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- The circular economy has the potential to empower women in many areas of work, including by providing entrepreneurial opportunities (for example, involving women-led start-ups) and enabling women to participate in sustainable initiatives such as recycling cooperatives.
- Expansion of the circular economy would likely result in an increase in the availability and number of gender-inclusive training programmes for business development and leadership roles in green businesses, and provide new opportunities for equitable participation in community initiatives.
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- Circular processes and technologies can be applied to many different water uses and sectors, e.g. for irrigation in agriculture, sanitation in human settlements, provision of clean drinking water, and water use in industrial facilities.
- Water-recycling technologies and solutions that reduce and reuse wastewater and improve access to clean water offer multiple benefits, including improved water security (especially important in regions expected to encounter increased water shortages) and sanitation.
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- Renewable energy solutions and energy-efficient technologies reduce reliance on fossil fuels and decrease energy costs, and their aggregate benefits for SDG 7 would increase as the circular economy expands.
- Repair, maintenance and reuse services for renewable energy systems provide a means both to extend the operational life cycles of such systems and to create new types of green jobs.
- Using recycled and recyclable materials in the manufacture of solar panels, wind turbine blades and other renewable energy applications can help to improve the sustainability of renewables throughout the entire life cycles of products and technologies.
- Energy-efficient appliances and lighting require less energy. This can help to reduce energy use, waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
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- Expansion of the circular economy would create more green jobs in recycling, repair services, renewable energy and circular product design.
- Embedding principles of justice and inclusivity in circular economy policy programming would help to promote standards on decent work and fair labour practices in circular industries, especially in waste collection, recycling, reverse logistics, repair services and remanufacturing; in all of these sectors, workers are commonly exposed to poor working conditions and are required to handle or work in proximity to hazardous gases, chemicals and materials.
- Many circular economy jobs are, or are likely to be, in the informal sector. Expansion of the circular economy could provide opportunities to bring more informal workers into the formal labour market, boost skills and economic prospects through training, and build capacity in new or existing green industries.
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- The circular economy can complement, and stimulate, development of infrastructure for safe management and recovery of waste.
- Growth in the need for ‘reverse logistics infrastructure’ for secondary materials – whereby used materials are transported back up the supply chain to their sellers or producers – would support the SDG 9 imperative of building more resilient, sustainable infrastructure and fostering innovation.
- The development of new circular technologies and industrial processes has the potential to support SDG 9 in fostering innovation.
- The establishment of circular industrial parks and eco-innovation hubs could support ‘domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries’.
- Demand for digital infrastructure enabling the traceability of products and materials is likely to increase in line with rising need for supply-chain and provenance disclosures in circular economy trade.
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- Inclusive business models and community initiatives associated with the circular economy can ensure equitable access to resources and opportunities, reducing economic disparities.
- Circular business models (such as product sharing and leasing) can provide more affordable access to essential goods (assuming the models embed sufficient social security nets to avoid termination of access to such goods for the most vulnerable people in the event of periodic economic hardship).
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- The integration of circular principles and zero-waste initiatives into urban planning would complement SDG 11’s agenda to make ‘cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.
- Modular construction, consistent with circularity principles, can enable the upgrading of informal settlements.
- Waste reuse and recycling can support more sustainable construction and demolition.
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- Circular practices include extending product lives, using resources more efficiently, and reducing waste through recycling, remanufacturing and sustainable consumption.
- The introduction of mandatory product warranties and legislation on the ‘right to repair’ – ensuring consumer products that break down do not necessarily have to be discarded – can lengthen product lives. This can result in reduced waste and reduced demand for new or replacement products.
- Societal shifts and initiatives promoting sustainable lifestyles and circular societies can reduce wasteful consumption and resource use and result in more sustainable consumption patterns.
- ‘Product-as-a-service’ models can reduce product ownership and associated materials demand, while providing the same functionality as traditional ownership.
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- Adopting circularity principles in the use of materials reduces greenhouse gas emissions along value chains, from extraction to processing to manufacturing to consumption.
- Adoption of circular municipal waste systems can reduce emissions of methane from landfills and of black carbon from open burning.
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- Reducing deployment of single-use plastics and adopting closed-loop systems of resource use through reuse and recycling can prevent plastics from leaking into the marine environment; this can support efforts to tackle plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
- Eliminating harmful chemicals from products and promoting the use of bio-based chemical alternatives (e.g. in production of textile dyes) can reduce pollution of oceans and coastal areas.
- The use of biodegradable packaging produced from marine resources (e.g. seaweed) can reduce the use of unsustainable plastics, and reduce plastic pollution of marine environments.
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- Circular bioeconomy practices that emphasize avoiding waste and promoting resource-efficient use of biomass reduce the need to extract raw materials, and minimize land disturbance and habitat destruction.
- Regenerative agricultural practices and ecological restoration reduce deforestation and soil degradation.
- In certain circumstances, using materials made from renewable sources, and that fully biodegrade quickly without specialist treatment into safe non-toxic elements, can help reduce plastic pollution and its impact on land ecosystems.
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- Transparent and inclusive governance in circular economy initiatives can foster trust and cooperation between stakeholders.
- Policies such as ‘extended producer responsibility’ (EPR – which in effect makes producers financially responsible for waste management costs associated with the goods they put on the market), right-to-repair legislation, and the provision of financial incentives for start-ups and small businesses can help to make economies more equitable and inclusive, for example correcting producer–consumer relationships or market distortions that unduly favour large enterprises.
- Collaborative ‘network governance’ models that distribute decision-making power cooperatively among multiple stakeholders have been advocated as an enabling mechanism for circular economy projects. Such models have the potential to support more inclusive and equitable public governance.
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- Regional alliances such as the Circular Economy Coalition for Latin America and the Caribbean, the African Circular Economy Alliance as well as international circular economy networks enable collaboration across sectors, value chains and countries. Sharing of knowledge, technologies and best practice is an explicit requirement of SDG 17.
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