Circular economy (CE) is integrated in many municipal departments, and it is hard to define how many people work with CE. The municipal company Uppsala Water & Waste is responsible for waste management, including recycling and reuse. The sustainability department is responsible for the overall strategy on sustainable resource management and the procurement department for including CE in procurements. The business department cooperates with innovation hubs to develop circular business models. The urban planning administration includes circular solutions and shared mobility in planning. The municipal housing company promotes reuse and recycling among residents.

City of Uppsala

Sustainability Department  

A new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), called the ‘Programme for a Circular Uppsala with no waste’, is under development and is expected to be adapted by September 2022. The CEAP envisions a fully circular Uppsala by 2050, where there is no waste, only resources. We choose to buy products that have been used before and those with a long service life that can be repaired and ultimately recycled. Waste is thereby prevented by sharing, renting, repairing and reusing products. 
 

The products we buy are resource-efficient, durable and free from hazardous substances so that they can be reused and retained in the cycle for a long time. The systems for collecting different resource flows are easily accessible and adapted for reuse and source separation. 
 

To promote the change of norms/behaviours towards increased circularity, the CEAP puts emphasis on communication, collaboration and design of services and systems to create convenient and transparent CE solutions that are accessible for all. Measures include further development of digital solutions for improved circular services and implementation of strategic target group adapted communication efforts for increase reuse and source separation. 
 

To increase the availability of collection services for reuse and recycling, the municipality will collaborate with property owners both in urban neighbourhoods and rural areas. Collaboration between Uppsala water & waste LTB and other reuse actors will increase the accessibility to reused products and goods. 
 

Public procurement is an important target area for the CEAP. The requirements for procurement should be designed to encourage the market to develop circular material flows and business models. Measures include the further development of procurement requirements for shared ownership or use, extended products service life, replacement of disposable products with reusable products, purchasing of used goods and renting/leasing instead of purchasing. 
 

Construction is a key sector for Uppsala and several measures related to procurement, building, and construction are specified in the plan. Included in the plan are procurement requirements for the preservation and reuse of materials that cover design, construction and conversion, and the demands on minimising waste materials during construction and remodelling. Requirements for an inventory of construction products that can be reused in the procurement of demolition contracts are also included in the CEAP. 
 

The CEAP also contains other specific measures regarding circularity in physical planning, building and construction. 

https://www.uppsala.se/kommun-och-politik/publikationer/2022/handlingsplan-for-avfallsplan/

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The Environmental and Climate Programme states that the municipality should collaborate with the private sector to stimulate circular business models. The Business Development Programme states that the municipality should work with climate-driven innovative business development, which includes circular business models. 
 

The Energy Programme 2050 states that the city should develop a resource-efficient energy supply with high utilisation of local resources and closed material circuits. The Programme for Rural Development states CE as an important part of business development in rural areas and that the municipality should create new forms of collaboration to promote a circular food supply. 
 

The municipality is currently working on reports on how to further promote sharing economy and industrial symbiosis. A measure in the plan for mobility and transport is to promote shared mobility services. The municipality has established other sharing economy platforms, including two libraries of sport and outdoor equipment. 
 

Uppsala works strategically to reduce emissions and increase sustainable resource flows in procurement and purchasing. A special focus has been placed on exchanging fossil plastic to recycled plastic. 
 

Production of biogas and bio fertiliser from organic waste has been in place for more than five years but is continuously developed and expanded. The possibility to install a biochar production facility, which will turn garden waste into biochar to be used for storm water treatment and soil improvement, is currently being studied.

Uppsala is committed to incentivising a local market for secondary construction materials. To achieve this goal, the city has recently opened a physical marketplace for reusable construction materials functioning as a second-hand shop for builders where construction companies can drop off or arrange pickups of excess materials. 

Managed by the municipality and operated by a private company, this marketplace will act as a hub to collect, store and later repurpose surplus building materials for new projects. 

The marketplace is designed to serve both industry professionals and the general public. It is a collaborative project involving builders, material suppliers, architects, city planners and local authorities (as part of the Uppsala Climate Protocol) to advance circularity in the local construction value chain.
 

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