The CityLoops team of Metabolism of Cities has developed Circularity Assessment methods (SCA’s) for the cities to evaluate the circularity of their construction/and or biomass sectors. The methods have been tested in two courses, one on data collection for circularity assessment, and another on data-processing and analysis for sector-wide circulaity assessment.

The reports firstly provide contextual information on the sectors under study. They then illustrate how circular these sectors are through circularity indicators and a Sankey diagram. Finally, the reports analyse and interpret the results, present the limitations of the data used and offer recommendations on how to make these sectors more circular.

The developed method combines material flow accounting and key “circularity” indicators to assess circularity in economic sectors. It seeks to find a balance between scientific rigor and comprehensiveness on the one hand, and operability by urban policy makers and practitioners on the other. In doing so, it also aims to be a handbook for urban policy makers and practitioners on how to apply this method for the biomass and/or construction sector of their city.

The SCA’s were carried out by the CityLoops cities themselves after receiving extensive training on data collection and data processing. Additional insights can be found in the individual Data Hubs of each city.