The World Economic Forum’s Future of Urban Development and Services Initiative has released its new whitepaper on the Circular Economy in Cities: evolving the model for a sustainable urban future.

This whitepaper traces the conceptual underpinnings of the circular economy, and explains why cities are key to accelerating the transition away from the traditional ‘take-make-dispose’ model. It draws on examples from cities around the world in areas including channelling used building materials to new building sites, water harvesting and reuse, reducing energy use, electronic waste, healthcare and procurement. It explains the opportunities in the circular economy for all stakeholders and the ways in which they can collaborate at city level.

Report by the World Economic Forum