Circular city development is based on the principles of resource efficiency and waste minimization, environment director of the National Development Planning (PPN) Ministry and National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Medrilzam, has said.
Globally, the definition of a circular city does not yet exist. However, a circular city can be agreed to be a city with a circular economic system, he stated.
“The definition is how the economic system produces various products,” he explained at an online discussion on circular state capital on Thursday.
“Products produced by the economic system, if possible, should be maintained as long as possible within the production, consumption cycle, so that we can reduce the utilization of resources used to create these products,” he added.
In addition, these products should be maintained within the utilization cycle. There should also be an effort to minimize the volume of waste—which comes from creating the products—entering the environment.
This connects the circular economy to the issue of waste.
However, the circular economy has broader coverage since it involves resource efficiency and methods to create products that can be used for as long as possible.
The concept of circular economy has grown with time. In the past, the circular concept was known as the 3Rs, or reuse, reduce, and recycle. Now, the concept has developed to 9Rs, Medrilzam noted.
“This includes concepts such as refurbish and remanufacture,” he said.
These principles will be implemented in the development of the Nusantara capital city (IKN), which will serve as a pilot circular city.
Implementing the circular city concept in IKN will be easier since Nusantara is a new city that is being built from the ground up. Implementing the circular concept in established and operating cities is more difficult, he informed.
Source: Antara News