The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Designing products with a single material type to more easily recycle them after use

Design for recycling - mono-materials

Extraction and reuse of parts from end-of-life products for use in new products

Part recovery

Decentralised services that rely on the power of the crowd or the community

Crowd-based services

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Providing services where customers are charged only when they use it

Payment per use

Providing products through sharing between consumers, customers, etc.

Peer to peer sharing

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Working together with stakeholders and parties in other unrelated industries to implement circular economy strategies and opportunities

Cross-industry projects, pilots

Designing products to remove any barriers to recycling and enable easy recyclability

Design for recycling

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of own-brand products

Own brand second-hand sale

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Utilising data and models to to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Data analytics, modelling

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Employ technologies to gather and analyse data to provide insights on resource use

Data and insights

Allowing customers to alter and modify certain features of the product

Customisation

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within the same industry

Closed loop collection

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Designing products so they are able to be easily repaired

Design for repair

Developing or utilising online marketplaces to enable the peer-to-peer exchange of products and services

Peer-to-peer online marketplaces

Engage and guide customers and consumers to ensure circular use of products

Customer / consumer collaboration

Consider opportunities to create greater value and align incentives that build on the interaction between products and services

Rethink the business model

Providing services through a subscription plan with regular payment schemes

Subscription-based services

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

Replace energy sources with less impactful alternatives and enact energy efficiency measures

Regenerative energy

Use digital, online platforms and technologies that provide insights to track and optimise resource use, strengthen connections between supply chain actors, and enable the implementation of circular models



Incorporate digital technology

Providing repair services or maintenance services for products or parts

Product maintenance, repair

Providing DIY repair kits or spare part programmes for enabling self-repair

Self-repair, spare part service

Replacing freshwater use with rainwater, fogwater, seawater, etc.

Alternative water use

Recovering and reusing waste heat, gas, etc. for energy

Recovery and reuse of waste energy

Designing products so they produce as little waste as possible during production

Design for minimal waste

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

Enacting measures that optimise water use

Water efficiency

Converting fossil fuel based operations to electric

Electrification

Integrate principles of circularity into primary, secondary and tertiary curriculum and conduct workplace trainings

 Education and Curriculum

Designing products of multiple parts that can be easily exchanged

Design for modularity

Selling parts of modular products that can be refilled

Sale of refillable parts

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within the same industry

Closed loop upcycling

Ensure that biological products are properly managed and preserved

Maximise lifetime of biological products

Engage internally to guide employees and facilitate greater knowledge sharing between internal divisions

Internal collaboration

Installing sensors to gather data from products and services to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Sensors, monitoring systems

Designing products to resist damage and wear, and serve a long and useful life.

Design for physical durability

Integrating circular economy thinking into employee evaluations that are tied to professional compensation

Financial incentives tied to circular economy

Using <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals" target="_blank">materials that are not toxic or hazardous</a>.

Non-toxic materials and inputs

Transforming waste products into materials and lower value products within other industries

Open loop downcycling

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

Recover waste energy or generate fuels and energy from waste streams

Energy recovery from waste

Connecting products and services into the internet of things to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Internet enabled, connected operations

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Designing products that can easily breakdown and degrade in the environment

Design for bio-degradability

Providing products through leasing, rental, or pay-per-use models instead of sales

Leasing, rental, pay per use

Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Enacting measures that optimise energy use

Energy efficiency

Selling parts of modular products that can be exchanged or replaced

Sale of exchangeable parts

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within the same industry

Using closed loop recycled materials

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

Deliver services through business models that ensure maximum value

Service business models

Preserving and conserving biological products such as food, forests, etc.

Preservation, conservation

Give products and parts another life after their end-of-use

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Providing upgrade programmes or upgrade services for products or parts of products

Product upgrade

Initiatives with disadvantaged communities, minorities, people distanced from the labour market

Give-back programmes

Provide guidance or professional training to educate employees to use circular economy principles

Training on the circular economy

Engaging in discussions with industry stakeholders to share circular economy best practices and push the industry towards greater circularity

Guidance, dialogue with industry stakeholders

Designing products to increase consumer’s emotional attachment and ensure longer use

Design for product attachment, emotional durability

Selling high quality, long-lasting products

Sale of durable, long-lasting goods

Specific programmes or initiatives to help customers become more circular 

Customer programmes

Developing or utilising online platforms to enable circular economy opportunities through information, product or service offering

Online platforms

Using renewable energy like solar, wind, etc. or renewable fuels like biomass, etc.

Renewable energy, fuels

Upgrade, repair, and maintenance while in-use

Maximise lifetime of products in-use

Replace freshwater with less impactful alternatives and enact water efficiency measures

Regenerative water

Generating energy from waste through processes such as anaerobic digestion, gasification, incineration, etc.

Generating energy from waste

Takeback and return of products from customers after end-of-use

Takeback programmes

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Designing products of multiple parts that can be easily disassembled

Design for disassembly

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within other industries

Open loop collection

Facilitate discussions and meetings between internal team members to identify circular opportunities

Dialogue with internal stakeholders

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of products

Second-hand sale, distribution

Processing waste streams into fuels such as biogas, biofuels, pellets, etc.

Processing waste into fuel

Employing artificial algorithms and robotics to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Advanced robotics, artificial intelligence

Putting in place purchasing guidelines for procurement departments and evaluating suppliers on circular economy principles

Circular procurement

Deliver products through business models that ensure maximum value

Product business models

Designing products so they use as little materials, water, energy, etc. as possible during use

Design for resource efficiency

Engaging in discussions with customers to educate and raise awareness of the circular economy and explore circular opportunities together

Customer dialogue, marketing 

Designing products that are made to last and to ensure longer use

Design for durability

Working together with the community and engaging them in the company operations

Joint product development

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within other industries

Using open loop recycled materials

Managing and enriching biological products such as soil, land, etc.

Management, enrichment

Working together with customers to jointly create products fit for them

Co-creation

Activities to clean, decorate, and restore products back to working condition for original or new purposes

Refurbishment, remanufacturing, renovation

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Designing products to be reused for the same or different purposes in multiple lifecycles

Design for reuse

Working together with industry peers to engage in business activities or exploratory projects that advance the circular economy

Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

Employ online platforms to connect and improve information sharing between stakeholders

Digital platforms

Using <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_sv" target="_blank">materials that are not considered critical</a>.

Non-critical materials and inputs 

Transforming waste products into materials and lower value products within the same industry

Closed loop downcycling

Key elements of the circular economy

Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy