Skip to main content
Knowledge category: Papers and reports

A Catalogue of Circular City Actions and Solutions

Updated on 07.08.2025

This guidance document aims to help cities identify actions and solutions that can accelerate their circular transition. The document covers eight key sectors with high circular potential. The circular approaches that can be adopted in each sector are introduced first, and this is followed by examples of potential circular actions and solutions. In addition, each section includes case studies from cities around Europe.

Author: European Investment Bank
Year of publication: 2024

Relevance for Circular Systemic Solutions

The Catalogue of Circular City Actions and Solutions targets eight high-impact urban sectors: Built Environment, Consumer Goods, Food, Manufacturing, Mobility and Logistics, Tourism and Leisure, Waste and Material Management, and Water and Wastewater Management.


Each item in the catalogue has practical value for cities and regions, offering actionable strategies such as how to refurbish existing buildings, adopt regenerative urban farming, implement digital tools for circular manufacturing, or introduce greywater reuse systems. These entries often include tools, methodologies, case studies, and recommendations, for instance, how Milan’s neighbourhood food hubs redistribute surplus or how Amsterdam maps material flows for urban mining.


Depending on the nature of the solution, the catalogue supports different stages of Circular Systemic Solutions implementation: “Map” (e.g., identifying underused assets), “Design” (e.g., circular public procurement criteria), and “Implement” (e.g., composting systems or shared mobility platforms).

Sectors

CEAP2 key product value chain

built environment, CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

CEAP2 key product value chain

including bio-based economy

digital tools facilitating CE transition

e.g. chemicals, cosmetics, bio-based industries

e.g. electrical engineering, furniture and interior, textile and fashion

Territories involved

large 500 000-200 000, medium 200 000-50 000, and small cities 50 000-5 000

large metropolitan area >1.5 million, metropolitan area 1.5 million-500 000

predominantly urban regions, intermediate and predominantly rural regions, refer to TERCET typology NUTS 3 region

Intra-territorial areas

e.g. commercial, residential, service, industrial