Implementing Circular Economy Measures for Stockholm's Sustainable Development: An Assessment of Using Second-hand Textiles in School Craft Education

Sammanfattning: Circular Economy is an increasingly popular concept, which could be implemented to decrease our environmental impacts and promote sustainable development. Within Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement, the city of Stockholm has the goal to become climate neutral by 2030 and wants to explore the effects ofcircularity measures. The city has decided to introduce a flow of second-hand materials in a school as a pilotstudy to redirect waste, in alignment with the waste management hierarchy. This thesis' objective is to researchthe impacts of this measure on textile waste management at the scale of a school's use, in the context ofsustainable development. First, interviews were conducted with the stakeholders and the system was analysed from a systems thinking perspective. Second, a Life Cycle Assessment on implementing second-hand textile flows in the school was used to quantify the environmental impacts of the measure. Finally, a survey filled by students gave the perspective they had on using second-hand inside and outside of the school. Results show that the system gathers the required characteristics to support a CE. Introducing this new flow of textiles has benefits compared to business-as-usual scenarios, and decreases carbon emissions. Pupils are showing interest in second-hand, but an economic incentive might be needed for them to change behaviours outside of the school. Findings underline the circular economy is connected to the three pillars of sustainable development at the local scale of the pilot study. The challenge of scaling up this measure and expanding the results at the level of the city is arduous but would support the city of Stockholm in its climate neutrality goal while helping to change the mindsets of its citizens for the future.