The world still runs mostly on take, make and waste: 93.1 per cent of the materials entering the global economy are new. The Circular Economy Pulse helps teachers and educators explain the alternative to learners aged 11 to 18 and to adult groups. It brings together the principles of the circular economy, current rules in the EU and Türkiye, and the objects learners handle every day, from a smartphone to a school lunch. Every item is mapped to GreenComp and the SDG targets, and every figure is traced to a source current in 2026.
The Circular Economy Pulse
Select, Classify, Prove
The Circular Economy Pulse
The world still runs mostly on take, make and waste: 93.1 per cent of the materials entering the global economy are new. This tool helps teachers and educators explain the circular alternative to learners aged 11 to 18 and to adult groups, using the principles, the current rules in the EU and Türkiye, and the objects learners handle every day.
Built from sources current in 2026, including the Circularity Gap Report 2026, Eurostat, the European Environment Agency, EU legislation applying in 2025 to 2027, and Türkiye's Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. Every item is mapped to GreenComp (JRC, 2022), and all 169 SDG targets were reviewed: 155 have a circular economy link and 14 are not applicable. Checked 6 October 2026.
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Read The LabelsNot everything here is law.Law In Force items are regulations or systems that apply now or on a fixed date. Plan Or Programme items are strategies, programmes or proposals that are not yet binding. Data And Research items are figures from reports and statistics. 169to1 Mapping marks GreenComp and SDG links, and 169to1 Lesson Design marks activities written for this tool. Company Example items describe what an organisation says it does, checked against a current source.
Set Up For Your Class
Two choices tailor the tool. Your choice of learners changes the discussion questions and activity adaptations throughout. Adult Learners covers teachers preparing a lesson, parents, colleagues and community groups, and matches page 002 of each lesson sheet.
Which Learners Will Take Part?
What Is Your Role?
What This Tool Brings Together
The Ideas
The three principles of the circular economy and the butterfly diagram from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the 10Rs used by the European Week for Waste Reduction 2026, and the latest figures on materials and waste.
Basics tab
The Rules
Ten laws, plans and systems in the EU and Türkiye that are changing how products are designed, repaired, packaged and returned, with their current status in October 2026.
Rules tab
The Objects And Activities
Eight everyday objects, from a smartphone to a washing machine, each with a linear path and its circular loops, and seven classroom activities with adaptations for each age group.
Objects and Activities tabs
Why GreenComp And The SDGs
The circular economy asks learners to see whole systems, question figures, imagine better designs and act together. GreenComp, the EU sustainability competence framework, names those skills. Every principle, rule, object and activity here is tagged with the competences it builds, and the SDGs tab reviews all 169 SDG targets through a circular lens. 155 have a link to the circular economy and 14 are marked not applicable, so you can see honestly where this topic connects to the 2030 Agenda and where it does not.
Teacher's And Student's Notes
Two-page guides for running the tool with a class. Both are also on the Pack tab.
Terms Used In This Tool
The Circular Economy In Brief
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes the circular economy as a system where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated. It rests on three principles, driven by design and underpinned by a move to renewable energy and materials. Open each principle to see what it means in practice.
The Three Principles
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The Circular Economy introduction. Plain-English summaries, school examples and tags by 169to1.
The Two Cycles
The butterfly diagram has two wings. Loops near the centre keep a product whole and keep most of its value. Loops further out break it down and keep less.
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, butterfly diagram. Loop names follow the diagram; explanations and examples by 169to1.
Use Without Owning
Keeping Material Quality
The 10Rs
The European Week for Waste Reduction 2026 uses the 10Rs, in order from most to least preferred, under its theme of Material Sufficiency. Select any R for a snapshot: what it means, examples at home and in school, a checked fact, a question for your group and links to the rest of the tool.
Most PreferredLeast Preferred
It Takes The Whole System
The Numbers
The latest figures from global reports, Eurostat, the European Environment Agency and Türkiye's Ministry. Where a 2024 report is cited, it is the most recent edition available in October 2026. Data And Research
Same Word, Different Measure
These four figures are all about circularity or recycling, but each measures something different, so they cannot be compared directly.
Circular Material Use Rate By Country, 2024
Share of materials used that came from recycled waste. Highest and lowest EU countries, with the EU average highlighted. Source: Eurostat, November 2025.
EU Circular Material Use Rate By Material, 2024
Metals are the most circular material group; fossil fuels, which are burned, are the least. Source: Eurostat, November 2025.
Where Value Is Lost Each Year, € Trillion
The five value loss pathways behind the €25.4 trillion Value Gap. Source: Circularity Gap Report 2026, Circle Economy with Deloitte.
Türkiye's Waste Recovery Rate, Per Cent
Reported results to 2025 and national targets for 2035 and 2053 (striped). Source: Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, September 2026.
Rules Changing Products In The EU And Türkiye
Ten laws, plans and systems, each summarised in plain English with its status in October 2026, a question for your learners and the principle it serves. Check the label on each one before treating it as law.
Timeline
Everyday Objects
Eight things learners know well. Each shows the linear path it usually follows, the circular loops that could keep it in use, checked facts with their sources, and an organisation already working this way. Each one has its own lesson sheet.
Classroom Activities
Seven lesson designs that move learners from understanding to action. Each shows what you need, the steps, an adaptation for your chosen age group and the competences it builds. Add any of them to your Lesson Pack.
GreenComp Competences
GreenComp has 12 competences in four areas. Select a competence to read what it means in plain English and see every principle, rule, object and activity in this tool that builds it.
Competence tags are 169to1 mapping, not an EU classification.
The SDG Targets Through A Circular Lens
Every SDG target is read here for its link to the circular economy: Core where circularity is central, Strong where circular practice makes a clear contribution, Indirect where the link runs through wider effects, and Not Applicable where the target concerns something the circular economy does not directly address. All 169 targets were reviewed; only the applicable ones are counted. Targets with a coloured edge are linked to items in this tool. Select a target to see its circular angle, its lead GreenComp competence, a starter action and everything in the tool that connects to it.
Target wording, starter actions and lead competences follow the 169to1 GreenComp Pulse and the SDG Traffic Light Toolkit. Circular readings and item links are 169to1 mapping. 169to1 is independent and has no UN affiliation.
Get Involved
Dates, campaigns and places for learners and adults to take their ideas beyond the classroom, and the sources behind this tool.
Your Lesson Pack
Rules, objects and activities you have added, printed as lesson sheets: page 001 for learners aged 11 to 18, page 002 for adult learners.
Your pack is empty. Use Add To Lesson Pack on any rule, object or activity.
Every lesson has two A4 pages. Page 001 is for school learners aged 11 to 18. Page 002 is for adult learners, including teachers preparing the lesson and adult groups in workplaces and communities. Printing opens the sheets in a new tab; use Print, or Share then Print on a phone, to save them as a PDF.
Teacher's And Student's Notes
Teacher's Notes And Checklist
Two pages: what the tool is, learning objectives, key words, the nine tabs, a timed hour and an optional second hour.
Student's Notes And Checklist
Two pages for each group to record choices and reasons, tab by tab, with a final checklist.
Select, Classify, Prove
