Ethan Milroy, HBA and Engineering ’25 candidate, and HBA Sustainability Certificate student, shares insights from his research project for the City of London, which involved a jurisdictional scan of comparable cities that have developed circular economy plans.
My final semester at Ivey was marked by a jurisdictional scan of circular economy plans and strategies across Canada to understand what the City of London can use them as it starts to develop its own circular economy framework. This research provides a solid knowledge base for current circular economies within Canada, including their activities, implementation plans, and recommendations for other cities. Below are some key learnings from my research.
Committing Resources To Drive Success
Circular economies are all encompassing and involve all parts of the local government. It is important to dedicate resources and staff to properly develop and implement circular plans and practices. Dedicated staff ensures accountability for the work being done and makes it easy for other city officials to know who they can and should work with.
There are already plenty of existing circular initiatives which exist within communities; recycling and compost programs, library services, and tool sharing programs. These programs are often run by different municipal departments and do not always allow inter-departmental collaboration to achieve better outcomes. Dedicated staff allow visibility on all programs across the city improving collaboration and outcomes.
Without local buy-in the hopes for circular economies can falter and fall by the wayside. These commitments create opportunities for strong community outreach which is a key successes factor for circular economies. Dedicated staff can help build strong community bonds with local businesses, community groups, residents, and government officials to help improve circular outcomes.
Making A Business Case
To improve the adoption of circular economy practices throughout municipalities, local governments should be focusing on developing and improving the business cases for a wide variety of projects. By proving to local, provincial, and federal actors that there is a financial incentive to invest in programs more money will flow into the circular economy and drive a more sustainable transition.
Creating Circularity Through Collaboration
Circularity at its core is something which involves every type of knowledge and skill that human beings use. It is naïve to think that one person or group would have the capability to implement and develop a circular economy. We must come together as a collective of individuals, businesses, and industries to work with one another and provide our own unique insights. Without collaboration circular economies will fail.
To this effect, London and other municipalities which want to see circular economy success must stay in communication with other jurisdictions to learn from their successes and mistakes. Circularity in Canada and around the world is rapidly changing, in fact, Montreal a leader in this space recently released its 2025-2027 Circular Economy Action Plan. This fast-paced revolution opens doors for new businesses and brighter futures.
I encourage you all to embrace circularity in your lives and businesses, by doing this we can create a society we are proud to call home.
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