Monitor gives Amsterdam insight into material flows
A city that values zero waste and everything of value: that is what we are working towards. In 2030 we want to use half as many materials, and by 2050 we want to be fully circular. But ‘half less’, of what? We have developed the Amsterdam Circular Monitor to measure how many materials go in and out of the city, how much is processed, how much is used for conduits and what the effect is on the environment and the climate. A handy and comprehensive tool that gives us extensive insight into our material flows. The first results from the monitor are in.
With this monitor, Amsterdam is the first city in the world that has an overview of all material flows that come in and are consumed or exported. Alderman Van Doorninck and program manager Rene Koop will present the results of the first trend analysis of the Amsterdam Circular Monitor on 11 February. The presentation of the results falls on the last day of the Week of the Circular Economy.
Results
The monitor shows that a total of around 73 billion kilos of materials move through Amsterdam every year. From food and clothing to electronics and building materials. Of this, 18 billion kilos will remain in Amsterdam. The rest is destined for export and leaves the city again. If we want to halve this by 2030, we need to use 2.3 billion kilos less materials every year. That is 15 times the weight of the Johan Cruijff Arena. Per year. Only then will we achieve the goal of being a fully circular city by 2050. The results mainly show that we now have to switch to materials that are less harmful to the environment.
Increase in material use and CO2 emissions
The monitor shows that the use of raw materials between 2015 and 2019 is slightly on the way. The city’s CO2 emissions have also increased further. The fact that this is the case, despite the improvements to reduce CO2 emissions in the city, has to do with the calculation method of the monitor. This also takes into account the emissions of the production. The emissions then outside Amsterdam or even outside the Netherlands. These production emissions are estimated to represent 70 to 90 percent of Amsterdam’s total CO2 emissions.
The municipality has drawn up the monitor together with Statistics Netherlands on the basis of data on freight transport from sectors such as sea shipping, road transport and pipe transport. In addition to insight into the route of the raw materials around the world, the monitor also pays attention to the effects on the environment and climate and to the social impact.
Appointments and rules
Amsterdam has been researching for years how we can make our economy circular. The Amsterdam Circular Monitor is part of our 2020 circular implementation programme, agreements have been made to focus more on timber construction and the municipality sets strict requirements for circular material use and energy requirements in construction. We also collect more clothing separately, so that we can reuse the clothing or process it into street furniture. But we think even more is possible. That is why products can be taken apart and reused. Repairing and recycling should become more attractive than buying new. This can be offset by, for example, a higher tax on. need closer cooperation with market parties and national and international politicians.
Methodology available
The monitor is unique in its kind and the method methodology can be used for other regions in the Netherlands. Amsterdam is happy to make its working method available and calls on cities to also draw up another monitor.
Knowing more
To read all the results of the monitor’s analysis, please visit research.amsterdam.nl/intermobiel/monitor-circulaire-economie†