Framework
Sustainable Development Goals
To be clear about what this is not. Circular Journey has no relationship with the United Nations, no accreditation, and no role in SDG reporting. These tags are a way of organising research so it can be found, not a claim of official status. Mapping a case study to a goal is our judgement and is labelled as analysis wherever it appears.
Clean water and sanitation
Leachate from unmanaged disposal and plastic in waterways both sit at the intersection of waste and water.
1 country · 0 case studies
Affordable and clean energy
Energy recovery from waste, and the long infrastructure commitments it creates.
2 countries · 1 case study
Decent work and economic growth
The livelihoods of the informal recovery sector, and what formalisation does to them.
3 countries · 1 case study
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Processing capacity, sorting technology and the economics of building either.
3 countries · 1 case study
Sustainable cities and communities
Municipal collection, urban density, and the systems that make a city liveable at scale.
10 countries · 5 case studies
Responsible consumption and production
The core of it: producer responsibility, material recovery, reuse and repair.
11 countries · 6 case studies
Climate action
Methane from organic waste in landfill, and the emissions profile of collection and treatment.
2 countries · 0 case studies
Life below water
Marine plastic, and the land-based systems that determine how much of it there is.
1 country · 0 case studies
Life on land
Land take for disposal, soil contamination, and the alternatives to both.
1 country · 1 case study
Partnerships for the goals
Knowledge exchange between countries, which is what this initiative is for.
0 countries · 0 case studies
Goal titles as published by United Nations Statistics Division. Country coverage for waste and material-footprint indicators is uneven, and reporting years differ between countries.
Browse research by goal in the Atlas.