The City of Amsterdam presents the Amsterdam Circularity Monitor. This report provides insights into the quantities of materials circulating in the city and the impact this has on the environment and the climate. The report states that around 73 billion kilograms of materials annually move through Amsterdam, from clothing and food to electronics and construction materials. Of these, 18 billion kilos remain in Amsterdam; the rest is processed and exported. The Circularity Monitor is one of a kind, and the methodology developed for it can be applied to other cities.
Insight into the flow of materials is crucial to facilitate a ‘Doughnut Economy’ – a plan the City of Amsterdam has drawn up with the economist Kate Raworth. Deputy Mayor Marieke van Doorninck, responsible for sustainability, says: “This monitor shows that the City of Amsterdam must reduce its use of materials by 2.3 billion kilos every year in order to halve the use of materials by 2030. That is 15 times the weight of the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Per year! Such a substantial reduction is necessary to achieve the objectives for a circular city where no waste is produced, and everything of value is reused.”
To produce the report, the City worked with Statistics Netherlands (CBS), using freight transport data from sectors such as shipping, road transport and pipeline transport. The report surveys the effects of these material flows on the environment and climate as well as their social impact. In the years covered by the report – 2015-2019 –, the usage of materials in Amsterdam has increased slightly.
In 2020, the City of Amsterdam presented its circular strategy and the programme for its implementation. The Amsterdam Circularity Monitor is a part of this. Since then, agreements have been made to invest more in wood construction, there are strict requirements for the construction sector regarding circular material use and energy use, and more clothes are being collected for reuse.
Last week, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving) emphasised the need for a bigger push towards the circular economy. The agency stated that more enforcement is needed to make the ambitions a reality. The City of Amsterdam is campaigning at a national and international level for new rules for the production of goods that would ensure that products can be more easily repaired, as well as dismantled for recycling. Raw materials should be more heavily taxed and the cost of labour reduced, so that repairing and recycling becomes a better option than buying new. To realise these goals, closer cooperation with market operators as well as in national and international politics is needed.
With the Circularity Monitor Amsterdam is the first city in the world to have achieved this level of insight into all flows of materials entering the city and being sold, processed and forwarded. The City will happily make its methodology available and calls on other cities to produce their own reports. On Friday, 11 February, Deputy Mayor Van Doorninck will present the results of the Amsterdam Circularity Monitor as part of the Circular Economy Week.
Source: City of Amsterdam Press Release
First Published: February 10th, 2022
