Prague: the circular European capital
Today, Prague has almost 1.5 million inhabitants and an economy that has replaced high-tech production, trade and services.
The city has placed the circular economy at the center of urban planning and climate mitigation ambitions.
Second life for the waste of the megacities
Every year, households in Prague consume about 307,000 tons of non-food goods. Of this, about 10% is bulky waste – materials or items that are too large for household waste, such as electrical goods, appliances and furniture – destined for landfill. With the growing average household income, it also increases the amount of huge waste that is landfilled.
70% of this is likely to be reused, giving furniture and appliances a second life and larger orders for new products.
Prague is also building a growing network of re-use sites throughout the city: it uses the value that this “waste” provides when using circular re-use, regeneration and repair strategies. In just half a year since the start of the experimental activities, almost 2,000 pre-milling items were processed: the equivalent of 14 tonnes.
These re-use sites have been integrated into assembly yards – so far three out of 19 municipalities – and modernized to make them lively and accessible to all citizens. Among other things, the hairdressers can hand in their unwanted furniture, equipment or still functional sports equipment, which they then upload to the online portal and can pick up residents, non-governmental organizations and charities free of charge.
Replace food waste with fertilizer and biogas
In Prague, families consume more than 950,000 tons of food a year, as almost 100,000 tons of household food and kitchen waste go to low-value recycling streams and are burned for energy.
In order to use a tonne of food waste as a source, Prague has set a possible goal of separating 70% of municipal waste from sources by 2035; Current rates are 31%. It first became the first Czech city to introduce a system of collecting food waste from households. It is currently in beta in three regions and hopes to be city-wide by 2026.
The collected food waste is converted into biogas and used to power waste trucks.
Excess energy will also be pumped back into the grid and excess waste will be converted into fertilizer for local agricultural projects.
Organic farming only on hectares of urban land
We have already seen how Prague handles food waste in households, but it is also innovating its circular purchasing strategy in order to regenerate ecosystems and provide healthy food for the local area on city-owned land.
The city owns 1,650 hectares of farmland – currently 500 hectares of leased farmers – and yet comes with sustainable fishing.
Farmers should follow the principles of organic and circular farming, namely: ban on the use of pesticides, no use of fungicides, use of organic fertilizers and adherence to crop rotation. Working with farmers and prioritizing ecological and circular practices is an effective way for cities to switch to a circular diet. The benefits of this practice may include diversifying the city’s food supply, increasing biodiversity, reducing packaging needs and shortening supply chains.