Gothenburg City Leasing is the department responsible for leading and coordinating the city’s circular strategy, due to its core mission of financing the city’s products and services. Gothenburg’s circular work is carried out cross-sectorally, with 50–75 people working on the circular transition as part of their daily mission. A strategy group was formed in 2021, consisting of representatives from ten key departments.

Urban rural predominance

Predominantly urban

Vision and objectives

The pilot set out to help Gothenburg move from a traditional “linear” way of buying and using things to becoming a circular customer by 2030—meeting needs first through existing resources, then through services or rental, then through used goods, and only as a last step through buying new products. In practice, the aim was to make circular ways of working normal across day to day operations, by building skills, agreeing clear measures, and embedding circular thinking into purchasing, procurement, reuse, repair, and end of life decisions.

To do that, the project planned a collaborative, hands-on approach: a practical arena where people from city departments, municipal companies and specialists could work together to understand what circular working means, assess where they are starting from, and define actions they can implement in their own organisations. Alongside this internal shift, Gothenburg also aimed to strengthen wider collaboration with local actors—business, civil society and academia—by creating arenas and platforms for co-creation that build capacity and support shared sustainability goals.

Implementation journey

A key delivery mechanism became the Circular Transition Arena: a structured mix of online and in-person sessions that combined learning with practical support. It ran through training and mapping, then themed workshops (for example, on ownership, disposal and procurement), followed by a follow-up to review progress and share experiences. The approach was deliberately hands on: participants worked on real material flows and day to day challenges, developed concrete measures with expert input, and then took those measures back into their operations for implementation.

Over time, the arena’s thematic focus covered furniture, workwear and IT, with the IT theme in autumn 2025 building on a dedicated pre-study supported through the CCRI’s external support scheme. Participation expanded steadily from a small first round to a much broader set of organisations by late 2025, with some joining multiple rounds—showing growing interest and positive feedback, especially for the combination of clear theory and practical, implementable actions.

In parallel, Gothenburg continued to develop and strengthen internal reuse practices for furniture and furnishings through its established reuse site, complemented by practical infrastructure such as an intermediate warehouse and transport support. The project also recognised that scaling circular practice is not only about good ideas: it requires governance, resources and coordination. The work therefore included ongoing efforts to clarify responsibilities, support cross department collaboration, and identify where additional capacity is needed for reuse and disposal support across operations.

Key results

The project delivered clear organisational progress. Participation in the Circular Transition Arena grew from six organisations in its first round to fourteen organisations between September 2024 and December 2025. The work also contributed to new roles that directly support circular practice, including citywide reuse coordinators, a reuse manager in the Preschool Administration, and positions linked to the city’s furniture reuse platform.

Just as importantly, the pilot helped turn circular ambitions into operational routines. New procedures for circular furniture flows were developed, QR tagging and “circular pattern offices” were introduced in parts of Social Services, and purchasing was centralised in at least one area alongside templates that combine reused and new items. The arena also created practical support for sharing and scaling what works, including a citywide knowledge bank collecting good practices for circularity.

The pilot generated momentum through training and real-world testing. A training programme to strengthen circular competence among purchasers was put in development, and pilot activity showed practical reuse and donation working in frontline settings—for example, two care homes acting as “frontrunners” by reusing available items and donating surplus equipment through established channels. Finally, the work helped lay foundations for wider requirements: in the 2026 budget, companies and boards were tasked with introducing circular management of workwear and furnishings, with pilot examples already available to support broader rollout.

Deliverables and outputs

The pilot produced a combination of practical support, studies and planning outputs designed to make circular working easier to implement. This included feasibility work and an action plan on circular handling of IT devices, shaped by mapping the purchasing process for mobile phones, computers and tablets and used to inform the arena’s focus on circular IT. It also generated working methods and resources that teams could use directly, such as a knowledge repository of good practice and materials used within the arena to guide current state analysis and clarify capabilities and responsibilities linked to the theme in focus.

Alongside the arena, the pilot’s outputs included structured planning and guidance on what to do next. A roadmap set out the intended direction, priorities and planned actions over the coming months, including the continued development of the Circular Transition Arena, continued work on internal reuse for furniture and furnishings, and the identification of increased resource needs for reuse and disposal support. Recommendations and next steps were also set out for how to build on preparatory work on industrial urban symbiosis, including the need to anchor activity in leadership forums, secure funding, and engage stakeholders in order to scale existing initiatives and start new ones.

As part of this package of outputs, the pilot produced the three reports that capture the work and its direction: the solution booklet, the roadmap, and the recommendations and next steps document.

Vision for the future

Looking ahead, the pilot’s direction is to deepen and spread practical circular working across the city organisation by continuing to develop the Circular Transition Arena and broadening its reach, so more teams gain the skills, support and confidence to implement circular measures in daily operations. The longer term ambition is not just one off pilots, but stronger routines, clearer roles, and a more consistent level of circular practice across departments and municipal companies—so circular requirements can be embedded more deeply into governance and operations.

For wider collaboration, Gothenburg’s forward vision is to create and sustain arenas and platforms that mobilise stakeholders and build capacity for joint action, linking actors along relevant value chains and stimulating projects, measures and investments that support systemic change. On industrial urban symbiosis, the next phase focuses on moving from fragmented initiatives towards a more strategic, anchored approach: securing funding, clarifying roles, strengthening stakeholder engagement, and building the internal coordination needed to scale up existing activity and initiate new symbioses.

Link to existing circular economy strategy and/or action plan

A circular strategy group, formed in 2021 with representatives from ten different key departments, has developed a roadmap and Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) as part of the Environment and Climate Programme 2021-2030. The actions are developed and carried out cross-sectorally, together with different stakeholders:

• According to three circular sub-strategies, Gothenburg aims to become a Circular Customer, and will collaborate and act for a Circular Gothenburg, becoming a circular forerunner nationally and internationally. Actions implemented between 2022 and 2024 will provide increased capacity for circular transition by:activating the city's own demand for circular business models, circular design, and reused and recycled materials through circular adaptation of existing and new procurement agreements;
• Stimulating the market to move from linear to circular business models;
• Providing good conditions and developed systems within the city's organisation, or reusing, sharing, repairing, and renovating products;
• Developing a systemised collaboration for a ‘Circular Gothenburg 2030’ and becoming a circular forerunner nationally and internationally;
• Establishing a Memorandum of Understanding between nearly 40 public and private property owners on circular construction and demolition.

Leading organisation

City of Gothenburg

Unit/department/section

• Cirkulära Goteborg
• Gothenburg City Leasing

Participation in other relevant initiatives

• NetZeroCities (Mission and Pilot city)
• Covenant of Mayors

(Other) Key resources

• Cirkulära Göteborg (Circular Gothenburg)
• Förutsättningar för omställning till målbilden "vi är den cirkulära kunden" (Conditions for transitioning to the “we are the circular customer” vision)
• Tolka hur cirkulär ekonomi kan bidra till att staden minskar sin klimatpåverkan med 90% (How the circular economy can help the city reduce its climate impact by 90%)
• Cirkulära möbelflöden i Göteborgs Stad– Arbetssätt, system och verktyg (Circular furniture flows in the City of Gothenburg - Working methods, systems and tools)
• Framtidsscenario 2030: cirkulär upphandling av byggoch rivningsprojekt (Future scenario 2030: circular procurement of construction and demolition projects)