Grant agreement ID: 821033
DOI
Project closed
EC signature date3 May 2019
Start date1 October 2019
End date30 September 2023
This summary captures the final reporting outcomes for CityLoops (2019–2023), an ambitious project that empowered European cities to manage their most impactful material streams: Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) and Bio-waste.
Context & Strategic Objectives
CityLoops aimed to prove that city administrations are the primary agents of change in the circular transition. By focusing on CDW and Bio-waste, the project targeted materials that represent the highest volumes of urban waste and the greatest potential for CO2 reduction.
- Sector Focus: * CDW & Soil: Moving from “downcycling” to high-value reuse in new construction.
- Bio-waste: Transitioning from simple disposal to nutrient recovery and food waste prevention.
- The “Lever” Strategy: Utilizing municipal powers—such as public procurement, zoning, and waste collection contracts—to create immediate market demand for circular products.
- Pilot Cities: Apeldoorn (NL), Bodø (NO), Høje-Taastrup & Roskilde (DK), Mikkeli (FI), Porto (PT), and Seville (ES).
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) & Results
The project successfully moved beyond theory into a massive “demonstration phase” with quantifiable outputs.
| KPI Category | Achievement |
| Demonstration Actions | 31 successful pilots (17 CDW, 14 Bio-waste) |
| Tools & Instruments | 34 new tools developed (procedures, scanners, marketplaces) |
| Circularity Assessments | 7 Urban Circularity Assessments (UCA) completed |
| Replication Power | 7 Replication Zones established with finalized transition plans |
| Scientific Output | Comprehensive sets of handbooks, toolkits, and policy recommendations |
Main Deliverables & Innovations
1. Urban Circularity Assessment (UCA) & SCA
CityLoops pioneered the UCA methodology, a material flow and stock accounting method.
- UCA: Provides a high-level “metabolism” view of the entire city.
- SCA (Sector-wide): Deep-dives into specific biomass and construction flows.
- CHA (Circular Hotspot Analysis): Pinpoints specific areas where resource loss is highest.
2. CDW Solutions: From “Waste” to “Resource”
- Pre-demolition Audits: Digital scans and procedures to identify reusable components before a building is torn down.
- Material Passports: Creating digital identities for materials to track their quality and location for future reuse.
- Marketplaces: Platforms for the trade of secondary raw materials between construction sites.
3. Bio-waste Solutions: Valorisation & Prevention
- Food Waste Prevention: Tools for the tourism and social sectors to track and reduce surplus.
- Green Space Certification: Systems to ensure biomass from parks is composted or upcycled locally.
- Smart Collection: Implementing new separated collection systems and routes to improve the purity of organic waste.
Socio-Economic & Societal Impact
CityLoops proved that a circular city is not just more sustainable, but more resilient and community-focused.
- Scientific Impact: Developed a standardized Circular City Indicator Set and monitoring framework to track progress across Europe.
- Economic Impact: Development of “Material Depots” and waste facilities created green jobs and supported local infrastructure.
- Procurement Power: The project’s Circular Procurement Toolkit showed cities how to use their buying power to force the market toward sustainable innovation.
- Environmental Impact: Documented significant reductions in carbon emissions and a measurable shift from landfilling to high-quality recycling and valorization.
