Circular Cities

The Recycling Council of Alberta (RCA) is helping Albertans to explore and support the Circular Cities concept. Global research on circular cities will provide case studies and successful initiatives for cities to draw on to make their communities more sustainable.

The goal is to establish a foundational group of Alberta municipalities of various sizes working together to develop a Circular Cities Roadmap containing strategies for transitioning to a Circular Economy. RCA will assist this group, and will use their success stories as models for other communities. Download the brochure today.

A linear economy is a dead end. The old model of a linear economy begins with harvesting raw materials and heads in only one direction – towards disposal. This burns through finite resources, contributes to pollution, and creates a lot of garbage.

Let’s shift the paradigm of how we manage our resources.

What is a circular economy?

A circular economy keeps products and materials circulating within the economy at their highest utility and value, through waste prevention, improved design, re-use, recycling, remanufacturing, and innovative business models.

Why Circular Cities?

Conserving and sharing resources saves money while reducing air, water and noise pollution, and cutting down on the release of greenhouse gas emissions and toxic substances.

Exploring the circular cities concept will:

  • raise awareness of waste reduction, resource conservation and climate change;
  • increase knowledge on the current impacts of our traditional linear economy and potential mitigating initiatives; and
  • reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate a circular economy.

How does it work?

Get inspired by these circular city initiatives already underway in Alberta.

  • Repair Cafés | ReThink Red Deer encourages residents to bring broken items to these free events, which offer tools, space to work and guidance from  volunteers to help make repairs.
  • Food Rescue | Banff Food Rescue and Calgary’s Leftovers programs pick up food that would normally be thrown away, and dispense it to people and organizations in need.
  • Re-Use It Centres | These centres reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by accepting items for reuse or repurpose.
  • Sustainable Building Policies | Cities outline a commitment to sustainable building principles with policies that include the procurement of materials which contain recycled content, are regionally available, are re-used, or meet certification standards.

The Circular Cities project supports the RCA’s primary mission: to promote and facilitate waste reduction, recycling and resource conservation in Alberta.

For more information contact us at info@recycle.ab.ca, or 403.843.6563.

This project is made possible from support by:

and the Alberta Government’s Community Environment Action Grant