An Update on the RCA’s Circular Communities Project
The Recycling Council of Alberta is working with municipalities across Alberta on the Circular Communities project to create opportunities to design out waste and conserve resources through a circular economy transition.
The project’s first phase (completed in 2020) involved consulting with communities and collaboratively developing unique roadmaps for how each community can begin to design their own transition to a circular economy.
Each community is unique in location, economy, and diversity, so the first step in the project involved consulting members of the community to determine unique attributes and opportunities. This engagement took place over a focused half-day workshop and contributed to the development of tailored roadmaps with the goal of giving communities an idea of projects and areas for exploration and growth.
The original participating communities included the City of Lethbridge, the City of Calgary, Town of Banff, Strathcona County, and the City of Edmonton, with project funding from the Alberta Government and Alberta Ecotrust.
Phase one of the project was a huge success, so much so that the Canadian Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) used phase one of RCA’s Circular Communities project as inspiration in the development of their national pilot project.
Phase Two: Circular Communities Implementation
As a next step, the RCA secured additional grant funding to pursue implementation of circular economy initiatives in the three communities of Banff, Lethbridge, and Strathcona County.
Phase Two – What has happened so far?
Town of Banff Opens Library of Things:
As a part of phase two, the RCA has supported Banff in developing their sharing economy through an equipment lending pilot program. The idea of a lending library came from the original RCA circular economy roadmapping process in phase one of the project. Sequentially, the Town conducted a survey with residents determining there was significant interest in the idea.
The Town partnered with the Banff Public Library to develop a Library of Things which officially opened in October. The Library of Things pilot has been a huge success and they are making it a permanent installment in the Town of Banff Library!
Thanks to the Library of Things, Banff and Lake Louise residents can now borrow a variety of items that are rarely used, hard to store, or are expensive, such as tools, cooking appliances and hobby items. It is free to access – all you need is a valid Banff Public Library membership.
From October of 2021 to January of 2022, 120 items are available to loan, 92 Banff residents signed waivers allowing them to access the Library of Things, 62 items were donated by Bow Valley residents and items from the Library of Things circulated 142 times!
Phase Two – What is planned (2022)?
- Project Innovators / Internal Red Tape Reduction Workshops
- Business Sector Circular Economy Solution Series
- Mobile Tool Sharing Library
- Circular Economy Asset Mapping
- Circular Economy Procurement Policy Development
“A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. It is a new way to design, make, and use things within planetary boundaries. Shifting the system involves everyone and everything: businesses, governments, individuals, our communities, our products, and our jobs. By designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems we can reinvent everything.” – The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
The old model of a linear economy is a dead end.
It harvests raw materials and heads in only one direction – towards disposal. This burns through finite resources, contributes to pollution, and creates a lot of garbage. We can shift the paradigm of how we manage resources by moving toward a circular economy.
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. This project focuses on communities because of the opportunities available due to their highly concentrated areas of resource use and people. Specifically, in Alberta, four out of five people live in an urban area. Municipalities are centres for innovation and economic activity and host large amounts of diversely talented people.
Communities also have strong levels of leadership and municipal governments are more nimble than higher levels of government when it comes to designing and implementing change. These factors make communities well-positioned for influencing a transition to a more circular economy.
Supporting the circular communities concept will:
- raise awareness of strategies that reduce waste, conserve resources and combat climate change
- increase understanding of why a linear economy is harmful, and what sustainable initiatives are possible
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate a circular economy