Developing a Framework for a Circularity Analysis at UBC
Creators: name: Wong, Brittney
name: Belotti, Giulia
name: Oreoluwa, Glory
name: Travers, Josh
name: MacNicol, Rona
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2022

description: The idea of a circular economy (CE) has captured the interests of academics and decision-makers as the world attempts to shift towards sustainable economic systems. Circularity identifies opportunities to design out waste and enable better resource management by recovering materials at a product’s end-of-life. A circularity analysis assesses the current state of material flows and identifies opportunities to increase the circularity of a specific item, sector, or system. A circularity analysis within a specific case is a useful preliminary step in shifting to circular practices, but what inputs are needed for a circularity analysis are unclear and context dependent. This research aims to support the University of British Columbia (UBC) with the development of a circularity analysis by drawing on best practices from other institutions and exploring the context-specific factors within UBC. We utilize a document analysis, observations, and semi-structured interviews with both key external stakeholders who have experience conducting circularity analyses, as well as internal stakeholders whose work relates to a transition to circularity. We explored the factors that were key to the success of circularity analyses at other institutions, as well as the challenges they encountered, and specific learnings from their experiences. We used this data to inform our interviews with internal stakeholders in order to determine how these learnings could be adapted to the UBC context. We found that, contrary to much literature on the need for pre-defined indicators, most circularity analyses have been conducted iteratively. Rather than determining the optimal indicators, the circularity analyses we encountered began with preliminary metrics that were refined over time. These preliminary metrics were applied to specific pilot projects, which were then recreated with other targets after incorporating prior learnings. This progressive build-up of small projects, rather than one large analysis, was the preferred method of most external respondents. It also appears that quantitative metrics were less important for practitioners than has been expressed in the literature; a larger emphasis was placed upon fostering engagement with the broader student and administrative community, as well as procuring the necessary resources to conduct a circularity analysis. Ensuring that these resources are available is a major prerequisite for success. From our findings, we provide a number of recommendations, which include the creation of a circularity committee, the creation of a shared definition of “circularity”, engagement with the student community, and support of current circularity initiatives on campus. As detailed in the discussion and conclusion, these recommendations are provided as guidelines for future actions and research to support UBC in its transition to circular operation. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”