World Environment Day 2023: How London is paving the way toward a circular future

London's leading role

London is one of the leading cities in the world that is embracing the circular economy vision. In 2017, as the Circular Economy Champion for London for ReLondon (formerly London Waste and Recycling Board) we published London's circular economy route map: a strategic document that provides guidance for the acceleration of London's transition to become a circular city. 

It identified that London could have a net benefit of £7bn per annum by 2036 if we accelerated our transition to a circular economy, with £2.8bn of which could be achieved through actions contained within the document.

The route map identified five priority sectors that have the potential to deliver significant environmental, social and economic benefits: food, textiles, plastics, electricals and built environment.

It also set out a number of actions that could be taken by various stakeholders, such as businesses, government, citizens and academia, to implement circular economy solutions in these sectors.

Over the past few years, London has seen many examples of circular economy initiatives that have had a positive impact on the environment and society.

Here are two of the key areas:

Extending shelf-life of buildings

The built environment sector accounts for about half of London's total consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions and over half of its waste generation. Therefore, applying circular economy principles to this sector can have a significant effect on reducing London's environmental footprint.

And doing so is like stepping back to your youth and all those hours upon hours of play using Lego bricks and parts. 

The basic principle is the same: build in a way, that at the end of the life of that building; it can be taken apart and the parts reused to build something equally (if not even more) spectacular!  Alternatively, utilise opportunities to adapt those buildings to extend their shelf-life as trends and needs change.

London is putting the principle behind Lego into practice. 

Now all development that is required to be considered by the mayor, must have in place a Circular Economy Statement as set out in the 2021 London Plan Policy SI 7 "Reducing waste and supporting the circular economy". 

It means all large built environment projects across the city, must place circular economy principles at the heart of building design.

Reducing carbon footprint of buildings

Alas: as important as the end-of-life thinking is for those buildings; the carbon footprint of the construction and refurbishment is just as important.  Greater use of recycled and renewable materials in construction and refurbishment projects is crucial. 

London's "The Crystal" building in Royal Victoria Dock is an example of one of the world's most sustainable buildings.  

It uses 100% renewable energy and incorporates recycled materials such as steel, aluminium and glass. 

This landmark building was built at the heart of a Green Enterprise District and is now the new seat of London's mayor and government, hence also making a statement to the rest of the world of the importance of the Circular Economy to London's present, as well as future.

Meanwhile, food for thought…

Almost 1 in 10 people globally don't have enough food to eat and 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted globally every year, worth approximately $1 trillion dollars.

An estimated 9.5 million tons of global food waste are generated in the UK, with 70% coming from households. It is believed that approximately 30 million people (equivalent to the entire population of Yemen) could be fed with the UK's total food waste each year, alone.

ReLondon's studies showed that of the food that was being thrown away, over half was still edible!  So, the food sector plays a critical role locally and globally in the need to become more circular. By failing to do so, we not only waste valuable resources but also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Indeed, food and drink are estimated to account for 10% of London's consumption-based emissions – the third largest contributor to greenhouse gases behind housing and mobility.

To tackle this problem, London has adopted several initiatives to reduce food waste and promote sustainable food production and consumption.

The Mayor of London, ReLondon and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have led work with stakeholders to create the Food Flagship Initiative.  Following mapping and research, ReLondon launched its London Food Footprint full of 20 priority interventions across the capital city.

These build on the Mayor's Food Strategy which set out a vision for a healthy, equitable and sustainable food system for London.  London also sees theTRiFOCAL project (Transforming City Food Habits for Life) which aims to raise awareness among Londoners about how to prevent food waste, recycle unavoidable food waste and adopt healthy and sustainable eating habits.

The private and charitable sectors also play a critical role along with the leading The Felix Project collecting surplus food from suppliers and delivering it to charities and schools that provide meals for vulnerable people. Additionally, the coffee shop chain Pret linked up with local charitable organisations to provide surplus food in the same endeavour.

Meanwhile, the Urban Food Awards recognises the multitude of small businesses making a big difference with their efforts on tackling food waste and produce, growing or making food in an environmentally friendly way.

Food is key to boost recycling rates

My own district of Ealing in west London is one of the capital's best-performing recycling boroughs – having made great strides in improving its recycling performance.

Whilst in charge of the Environment portfolio, recycling rates in the borough hit record high levels of 53% and remains the second-best performing district across the capital, performing well above the London average.

The borough offers a near-universal doorstep recycling service, the key to such a high-performing recycling rate is the push and pull factors that lead to food waste being recycled rather than being sent with other non-recycled waste. 

Alternate weekly collections alongside a continued weekly collection of food waste made local residents think again about the production and disposal of food waste, increasing the tonnage of food waste recycled by almost 50% following the changes introduced a few years ago. 

Since, the anomaly of Covid-19 has impacted our living, working and eating patterns (amongst so much more!) and, as a result, we have seen recycling rates go backwards across the city. We are now seeing these new measures boost recycling rates once again.

Cities can drive delivery of a circular future

Cities are uniquely positioned to drive a global transition towards a circular economy. With their high concentration of resources, capital, data, and talent spread over a relatively small geographic area, cities provide a great reservoir of knowledge to be used to improve their sustainability.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation reports that building a circular economy in cities can bring tremendous economic, social, and environmental benefits. If we can reduce congestion, eliminate waste, and bring down costs, higher economic productivity and new growth will allow cities to thrive.

Cities and regions play a fundamental role in the transition from a linear to a circular economy, as they are responsible for key policies in local public services such as transport, solid waste, water and energy that affect citizens' well-being, economic growth and environmental quality. 

London leads, but there is still so much more to do.