Sustainable cities: how can we develop the urban circular economy? – live chat

Many thanks to everyone who joined us for our circular cities live chat today. Scroll down to read some of the highlights (in the blog) or the full chat (in the comments space).

And if you’re looking for further reading, check out our recent piece on eco-villages. Is this the future of circular cities?

de Winter says:

it is often easier to implement circular economy strategies [in developing countries] because there is no vested infrastructure yet [...] Many towns in Africa are going directly towards solar panels, without having the need to connect to the grid [...] On the other hand the challenges are bigger. Plastic waste is huge problem in India. To overcome that problem they now made mandatory to use plastics in roads.

You can check out our article about plastic roads in India here:

de Winter says:

Governments are key in stimulating the circular economy. I mentioned earlier that sweden reduced taxation on repairing, thereby stimulating repair services [...] On the other hand, much more effort can go into supporting businesses. Many cities are moving more towards a facilitation role, rather than strict rules and regulation. They can come with innovative policies, but ultimately businesses are the one[s] who need to implement it.

van Bueren says:

the institutionally fragmented nature of urban decision-making doesn’t make it easy to ‘implement’ CE. In the Netherlands, waste and water management companies are experimenting to find a balance between individual and collective systems and very local (building or building block or neighbourhood level) and city level interventions.

Lombardi says:

Businesses are often the source of the innovation that enables the transformation of our economy - be it repackaging and rethinking products for the bottom of the pyramid, or crowdfunding, or sharing economy. It’s great when policy can lead the way and set direction - like the animal byproduct ban a few years back, which stimulated lots of new business activity - but sometimes business has to come up with the brilliant ideas first, and policy follows.

de Winter says:

Storytelling is very important in engaging citizens [...] For example, in Glasgow we came up with a strategy that was making bread from beer. This is a very attracting story and appealing to many consumers. And more importantly it will explain the concept of circular economy in a simple way. By those incremental changes you can quickly create systems changes, by changing consumers’ behaviour

Panellist Rachel Lombardi, director of business development at International Synergies Limited, says:

every city is different - in culture, context, resources - but construction and food/organic waste are pretty common challenges

Panellist Ellen van Bueren, chair of urban development management at TU Delft | Delft University of Technology, says:

Testing and experimentation, learning by doing, by public and private stakeholders, is at the core of a large and varied number of circular innovations taking place in [Buiksloterham, The Netherlands, an industrial district being redeveloped for mixed-use, including residential]

Panellist Jurn de Winter, circular cities project manager at Circle Economy, says:

There are many cities worldwide already embracing the circular economy, take for example Glasgow, Barcelona, Brussel[s]. [...] The Netherlands recently set a target to be 100% circular in 2050. Combined with the infrastructure and businesses, Netherlands is set to become a hotspot for the circular economy.

Cities are home to more than half the world’s population and, as urban populations continue to rise, they must find ways to cope with acute demands for resources and space.

In response, a growing number are embracing circular economy principles, from roads made out of waste plastic in Chennai, to bricks made from old construction waste in Rotterdam.

Built-up urban areas also lend themselves to the expansion of peer-to-peer business models. In the US, for example, where 90% of households own a car, car sharing has been shown to help reduce traffic without taking away people’s freedom to drive. It also helps cut the cost of maintaining and parking cars.

The question is how to go beyond individual examples of circular innovation to build a city-wide circular system. Join us onWednesday 19 October, 1-2pm (BST), to debate how to support the development of circular cities.

Questions we will explore include:

• where are cities successfully embracing the circular economy and what resources aren’t yet being captured and repurposed?
• what is the role of business in developing circular cities?
• what’s next in the world of peer-to-peer lending?
• what incentives are there for urban dwellers to embrace the circular economy?
• what are the main barriers to developing circular cities?

Ellen van Bueren, chair of urban development management, TU Delft | Delft University of Technology

Wayne Hubbard, chief operating officer, London Waste and Recycling Board

Rachel Lombardi, director of business development, International Synergies Limited

Eelco Smit, sustainability director, Philips

Jurn de Winter, circular cities project manager, Circle Economy

Moderator - Tess Riley, deputy editor, Guardian Sustainable Business

Make sure you’re a registered user of the Guardian and join us in the comments section below, which will open on the day of the live chat.

You can send questions in advance by emailing tess.riley@theguardian.com or tweeting @GuardianSustBiz using the hashtag #AskGSB