Scaling Circularity: Best Practices & Learnings from Beyond 34

Since 2017, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Beyond 34 initiative has helped cities and the private sector make strides in advancing circularity and improving recycling systems across multiple U.S. regions, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Orlando, Florida; Austin, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia.

As the program comes to a close, this report outlines insights and successes achieved, along with lessons learned that can help guide other cities and regions in their transition toward a more circular economy.

The Beyond 34 Framework

Step 1: Assessing the Current State of Circularity

To begin, cities can develop a shared understanding of the current state of material circularity by conducting a material flow analysis (MFA) based on available data and informed by local partnerships. This analysis maps the resource flows through the city, helping identify where resources enter, are consumed, and are wasted or recycled. It highlights potential areas for improvement, such as high-waste sectors or underutilized resources, and serves as a foundation for setting local circular economy priorities.

Step 2: Selecting Circular Focus Areas

Once the current state is clear, cities can identify focus areas to maximize impact and align with community needs and stakeholder interests. These areas—such as circular built environment, organic waste management, or circular manufacturing—are typically selected based on the MFA findings, stakeholder input, and considerations of local priorities and capacities. Choosing a few key areas allows for targeted actions that address circular economy principles, such as resource conservation, waste reduction, local job generation, and community well-being.

Step 3: Establishing Goals and Addressing Barriers

With focus areas selected, cities can organize workshops or collaborative sessions with stakeholders to develop short-, mid-, and long-term goals for each focus area. During these discussions, participants can help identify specific goals, pinpoint barriers (e.g., regulatory, technical, or economic obstacles), and discuss enablers for implementation.

Step 4: Moving From Strategy to Implementation

The next phase involves translating strategy into concrete actions. For each focus area, cities can develop roadmaps that outline pilot projects or initiatives to test circular approaches, assigning roles and responsibilities across stakeholders. Engaging private partners is essential for implementing these initiatives as they can contribute resources, innovation, and local expertise.

Focus Areas

From the step-by-step, data-driven approach outlined earlier—centered on material flow analysis (MFA) to identify priorities—four areas emerged as focal points for most cities in the Beyond 34 program: waste management, food waste and organics, circular built environment, and circular industry.

1. Waste management remains fundamental as cities work to reduce landfill use and increase resource recovery through recycling and reuse initiatives.
2. Food waste and organics represent significant potential for impact, with cities focusing on composting, community education, and innovative solutions for diverting organic waste from landfills.
3. In the built environment, cities are adopting circular strategies that encompass the entire lifecycle of buildings, including sustainable design, material efficiency, adaptive reuse, and deconstruction. These approaches aim to minimize waste, promote the reuse of materials, lower embodied carbon, and integrate circular principles into urban planning and construction practices.
4. Circular industry efforts target the development of closed-loop production processes in areas such as circular plastics and the renewable use of energy.

Collaborative Action for Circularity

Regions involved in the Beyond 34 initiative, along with other leading regions across the U.S., have demonstrated their commitment to advancing circular economy goals through voluntary, collaborative action. By engaging private entities through innovative public-private partnerships, these cities have implemented impactful solutions, from waste reduction to closed-loop systems of material cycling. Drawing on interviews with stakeholders from Beyond 34 regions and beyond, key lessons highlight how voluntary actions and partnerships drive economic opportunities, enhance environmental resilience, and offer replicable blueprints for cities striving toward a circular future.

Partners

Beyond 34 was made possible by support from Walmart.org. Since launching in 2017, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation collaborated with additional corporations, local governments, local chambers, and technical partners, including The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Kroger Co., Metabolic, Procter and Gamble, Dow, PLASTICS Industry Association, Republic Services, Target, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.