CIRCULAR TURKU A BLUEPRINT FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO KICK START THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY TRANSITION TABLE OF CONTENTS This publication is a product of the“Circular Turku: Regional 4 About the consortium collaboration for resource wisdom” (2019-2021) project, which 5 Foreword aims to design a regional roadmap to operationalize circularity 6 Executive summary in the Turku region with the support of local stakeholders and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. The report captures the results and learnings of the inception phase of the 9 MEET CIRCULAR TURKU project and the existing endeavors and good practices of Turku. 10 About Circular Turku 12 The city of Turku PUBLISHERS FUNDING PARTNER ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability e.V. 15 SETTING THE SCENE: CIRCULARITY IN TURKU Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße 7 53113 Bonn, Germany 16 Building on local knowledge and initiatives www.iclei.org 18 Regulatory frameworks informing circular economy work in Turku 23 Linking circularity to carbon neutrality in Turku City of Turku CONTRIBUTORS AND REVIEWERS PO 355 20101 Turku, Finland 27 OPERATIONALIZING REGIONAL CIRCULARITY: BEST PRACTICES FROM TURKU Marleena Ahonen, Sitra www.turku.fi/en Aki Artimo, Turun Seudun Vesi Oy 28 The Green Circular Cities Coalition thematic framework Theresia Bilola, City of Turku AUTHORS Linda Fröberg-Niemi, Turku Science Park Ltd 30 Multi-stakeholder collaboration for a Circular Turku Björn Grönholm, UBC Sustainable Cities Commission 34 Increasing the circularity ambitions of regional waste management with Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy Marion Guénard, ICLEI World Secretariat Olli Hakala, Centre for Economic Development, Transport and 38 From extraction to resource recovery, a systemic water concept in Turku Tiina Vikman, City of Turku the Environment in Southwest Finland 42 Smart Chemistry Park: An industrial symbiosis project to redesign the chemistry sector Yun (Yvonne) Yang, ICLEI East-Asia Secretariat Suvi Haukioja, City of Turku 46 Supporting circular food systems through public procurement Reeta Huhtinen, Turku Science Park Ltd DESIGN & LAYOUT Sini Ilmonen, Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy 50 Laying the foundations of a circular construction industry Aleksis Klap, Regional Council of Southwest Finland Matteo Franceschi, ICLEI World Secretariat Jarkko Laanti, Turun seudun puhdistamo Oy 55 FIVE PRIORITIES FOR A CIRCULAR TURKU Riikka Leskinen, Valonia - Service Centre for Sustainable Development DISCLAIMER 56 Setting priorities for five value chains Julius Manninen, Turku Science Park Ltd 63 Towards an action-oriented roadmap Hannah Rothschild, ICLEI World Secretariat The information contained in these roadmaps is based on close Essi Silvonen, Finland Futures Research Centre 64 Methodology for a collaborative prioritization of circular economy topics consultation with the City of Turku and regional stakeholders. Togo Uchida, ICLEI Japan Authors and reviewers have contributed to this report in their Risto Veivo, City of Turku individual capacity. Their affiliations are only mentioned for 67 TAKING CIRCULAR TURKU GLOBAL Dana Vigran, ICLEI World Secretariat identification purposes. Rebecca Wessinghage, ICLEI World Secretariat 68 Four pillars of a Circular Turku CITATION 69 Scaling Circular Turku through the Green Circular Cities Coalition 70 Collaboration with Japanese cities The publication should be cited as: City of Turku, ICLEI (2020). Circular Turku: Regional Collaboration for resource wisdom. 73 KEY LEARNINGS AND OUTLOOK Bonn, February 2020. 75 Credits 3 ABOUT THE CONSORTIUM FOREWORD CITY OF TURKU SITRA ICLEI – LOCAL In Turku we are committed to a circular, resource wise future GOVERNMENTS FOR with zero emissions, zero waste, a low ecological footprint and the sustainable use of natural resources. Turku is on a good Located in Southwest Finland, Turku Finnish innovation Fund Sitra focuses SUSTAINABILITY is the regional capital of the third on improving the well-being of Finnish path towards carbon neutrality by 2029, and thereafter towards a climate positive area with negative net emissions. We are largest urban area in Finland. Turku is residents towards a fair and sustainable is a global network of more than determined to implement the principles of resource wisdom and the country’s oldest city and a global future. Sitra conducts practical 1,750 local and regional governments aspire to host a socially sustainable circular transition. frontrunner for climate action. With experiments and research, compiles committed to sustainable urban its surrounding municipalities, Turku cross-boundary networks and develops development. Active in 100+ countries, Our ambitious goals can be achieved with strong climate is an energetic centre of growth in the and finances business operations. Sitra ICLEI influences sustainability policy mitigation and adaptation measures combined with circular Baltic Sea area. The city is an important is an independent public foundation, and drives local action for low emission, solutions. A successful climate policy must include an element business and cultural centre, and a hub operating directly under the supervision nature-based, equitable, resilient and of circularity and address both direct and indirect emissions for learning and research. of the Finnish Parliament. circular development. ICLEI’s members such as those embedded in material and product life cycles. and team of experts work together through peer exchange, partnerships A recent study recognized about 700 circular economy and capacity building to create systemic operators in the Turku region, 270 of them being businesses change for urban sustainability. visibly engaged in circular economy. Cities have a crucial role as enablers of circularity and in creating a good operating environment for new solutions. Through visible solutions, residents can see the benefits of circulating resources, with positive impacts on our environment, economy and wellbeing. The roadmap for a Circular Turku is well underway as a collaborative effort by the City of Turku, ICLEI, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and regional partners. Our work with ICLEI and the Green Circular Cities Coalition brings new elements to the roadmap process and helps scale our solutions for other cities’ and municipalities’ use. A Circular Turku can be achieved through active collaboration, and we are excited to continue this joint work! MINNA ARVE MAYOR, CITY OF TURKU 4 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The circular economy offers a Yet because the circular economy Experiences in Turku show the value Moving forward, the city of Turku Circular Turku is shaped by the inputs Together with the city of Turku, relevant practice-oriented framework doesn’t have sectoral or geographical of regional and multi-stakeholder is designing an action plan to of committed stakeholders from a a vibrant community of circular to rethink the way resources are boundaries it can quickly feel collaboration in operationalizing comprehensively implement the wide variety of fields. Their voices economy actors will ensure Turku managed at the local level and shift overwhelming. As a result, the the circular economy in a systemic circular economy in the surrounding and vision for a Circular Turku as fulfills the objectives laid out in its city away from extractive production circular economy often ends up being way. This report offers a deep-dive region in an inclusive and participatory represented throughout this report are strategy: Becoming carbon neutral, practices. Through urban planning, marginally implemented. into front-running circular economy manner. These efforts are undertaken foundational to the work that the city zero waste and respecting ecological policies, investments and their ability practices from the Turku region and as part of the Circular Turku project, plans to undertake. boundaries by 2040. to convene different stakeholders, provides insights into the governance co-funded by Sitra and implemented local governments are well positioned model and participation mechanisms in close partnership with ICLEI – Local to turn the ambitions of the circular needed to make them happen. Finally, Governments for Sustainability. The economy into an everyday reality. it showcases how the circular economy aim of this cooperation is to draw can support ambitious climate action learnings from international best through concrete pathways other local practices and design needs-based tools governments can replicate. and collaborative methodologies for other local governments to use around the world. Cities have a central role in operationalizing circular economy, ICLEI’s Circular Development program guides local “and multi-stakeholder collaboration is a key factor in this “ governments in embracing circular and sustainable transition. The Turku region holds a significant amount of development and shifting away from resource-intense expertise in circular economy, and we need to utilize that models. We are thrilled to be working with the city of knowhow together. A roadmap that is designed in broad Turku on designing a blueprint for operationalizing collaboration from regional to international level has true the circular economy at the local level. Experiences scaling potential to other local governments around the from Turku demonstrate the key role of cross-sectoral world. Turku has succeeded in combining economic growth and multi-level collaboration in turning the circular “ with emission reductions, and we are on a very promising “ economy into a reality and offer replicable tools to path to carbon neutrality