City of Amsterdam Rene Koop
2022 Finalist
Build a
Waste-free World

City of Amsterdam, Circular Economy

Country: Netherlands

In 2020, The City of Amsterdam committed to becoming a circular economy. By 2050, it aims to waste nothing and recycle everything.

Their Story

In 2020, The City of Amsterdam took a radical step by becoming the first city to commit to building a circular economy, where waste is eradicated and citizens are prosperous. By 2030, the city will halve its use of new raw materials. By 2050, its economy will be fully circular.

To do so, it will cut waste in three areas: the food Amsterdamers eat, the products they use, and construction in the built environment. Most importantly, the city is changing the way its residents and companies think, shifting people from a ‘use-and-dispose’ mindset towards one of ‘rethink- and-reuse.

Two years into the city’s ‘Circular Strategy’, things are already changing, with a blizzard of small acts leading to society-wide transformation. When Covid struck, for example, the city helped local textile businesses cut the cost of clothing repairs by 80 percent to encourage more re-use as household budgets fell.

Further opportunities to cut waste have been found in unlikely places. The city has started recycling its artificial grass, and examined how new grass pitches can be designed so that they can last longer. Besides that, the municipality has made the reuse of building material the standard, instead of automatically ordering new supply.

Major steps are necessary to achieve the system change that is required. The Circular Monitor that Amsterdam has built and which tracks all material streams in the City can help in making the right choices on which materials need to be prioritised, and how we can rethink and regenerate their design and life cycle.

Other Finalists in Build a Waste-free World

Learn About the Earthshots

Protect
and Restore
Nature
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030, we choose to ensure that, for the first time in human history, the natural world is growing – not shrinking – on our planet. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Protecting and managing natural carbon stores such as peatlands and intact forests
  2. Restoring forests, wetlands, and other damaged ecosystems
  3. Developing and scaling regenerative agriculture
Learn more about this earthshot

Clean Our
Air
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030 we choose to ensure that everyone in the world breathes clean, healthy air – at World Health Organization standard or better. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Engaging citizens in data collection and advocacy
  2. Efforts to stop burning in agriculture and forests
  3. Transitioning to clean personal transportation
Learn more about this earthshot

Revive Our
Oceans
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030, we choose to repair and preserve our oceans for future generations. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Reducing and addressing overfishing 
  2. Developing ocean ecosystem services that mitigate climate change: ‘blue carbon’ 
  3. Advancing climate change solutions with ocean benefits 
Learn more about this earthshot

Build a
Waste-free
World
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030, we choose to build a world where nothing goes to waste, where the leftovers of one process become the raw materials of the next – just like they do in nature. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Moving towards waste-free food, including efforts to shift to a plant-based diet
  2. Championing waste-free fashion 
  3. Circular solutions: extending the life of goods and/or eliminating single-use goods
Learn more about this earthshot

Fix Our
Climate
2022/23 PRIORITIES

We choose to fix the world’s climate by cutting out carbon: building a carbon neutral economy that lets every culture, community and country thrive. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Transitioning to renewable energy for all
  2. Reducing methane emissions
  3. Constructing buildings fit for the future
Learn more about this earthshot
The Earthshot Prize