Bio-circularity label

The HOOP Circularity Label tool is an instrument to understand the current
performance of a city/region regarding the implementation of bio-circular measures

Introduction

The HOOP Bio-Circularity Label has the aim to play an important role in the mission to support cities and regions to boost their circular urban bioeconomy. The label has been developed to show to what extent cities and regions implement circular measures, policies, and initiatives. Thereby creating an environment to help encourage investments in circular technologies, projects, and companies, allowing the production and application of biowaste-based products.

Besides the status on the circular urban bioeconomy, the Label also detects areas cities can improve on in their local bioeconomy. Here cities and region can learn from real-life examples, aiming to stimulate the circular urban bioeconomy. So, the Label demonstrates the effectiveness of green policies.

The Label consists out of a list of indicators related to urban biobased waste streams including Organic Fraction Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) and Urban Waste Water Sludge (UWWS). The assessment covers the political ambitions, strategies and implemented policies, participation, awareness and initiatives of the society, consumption, and waste patterns as well as waste treatment. Cities and regions showing a high maturity in circular policies, programs, projects will be awarded with the HOOP Bio-Circularity Label.

The Circularity Levels

The HOOP Bio-Circularity Label is based on a scoring system. Here the cities and regions are assessed on their circularity performance based on nine Circularity Levels (CL). Each level indicates the level of maturity of the circular bioeconomy on a European level.

The higher the CL obtained, the better a city or region is performing. Where CL 5 is the European average. The distribution of the CL scoring and the Label can be seen in the image above.

Calculate your bio-circularity label

How it works

The dimensions

To broadly and fairly assess the circular efforts made in a cities or regions bioeconomy, the HOOP Bio-Circularity Label includes several dimensions that go beyond collection or recycling rates. This is because one of the Label’s goals is to install confidence in the intentions and actual circular performance of the city or region. The Label consists of four dimensions including:

Policy

political ambitions, strategies and implemeted policies

Society

participation, awareness and initiatives

Consumption & waste patterns

including water and organic waste

Resource management

collection, reuse, recycling, distribution, use, etc...

Each dimension consists of a set of indicators. The number and importance of indicators in each dimension varies, as well as the way they are assessed (quantitative or qualitative). Based on the results obtained from the indicators, the Circularity Level will be calculated. The overall score determines whether the city or region will be awarded the Label.

The application procedure

To apply for the HOOP Bio-Circularity Label a simple step-by-step process needs to be followed. This can be seen in the figure below. Each city applying for the Label will undergo the same procedure. First, you must be a city or region to be able to apply for the Label. Next, the steps below need to be followed:

     1. Register with your name and email on the UCBH platform.

     2. Fill in the online questionnaire on the UCBH platform.

     3. If not already, become a member of the HOOP Network of Cities and Regions to view your obtained results.

     4. Receive your results and recommendations.

Cities and regions scoring ≥ CL5 will qualify to be awarded a Label. If your city scores ≤ CL4, your city or region has not yet met the requirements for an award. Therefore, your city or region will keep the member badge. Additionally, all cities and regions applying for the Label will receive suggestions to improve the circularity performance and learn from other circular cities or regions in the field. To validate the answers, the questionnaire will be reviewed by a third party.