The SIRCLES model, implemented to tackle organic waste composting challenges in Mediterranean countries, offers crucial insights into sustainable waste management. It encompasses technology, regulations, and awareness to establish effective collection and composting practices, adapting to local legal frameworks and citizen awareness levels.

Lessons from seven pilot plants emphasize involving local institutions, fostering stakeholder collaboration, private sector engagement for financial viability, public awareness campaigns, and continuous education. These lessons result in policy recommendations for local authorities, including prioritizing awareness and education, understanding local contexts, fostering community engagement, and implementing incentive systems.

These insights underscore the importance of citizen involvement, industry participation, and educational collaboration for achieving circular economies in cities. Implementing these recommendations can create efficient biowaste collection and composting, reducing landfill waste and promoting circular economies by transforming biowaste into valuable compost for agriculture. Citizen participation, industry engagement, and sustainability education play pivotal roles in building resource-efficient urban environments, ensuring a better future for generations to come.

Read the full Policy Toolkit here.