On 11 September, the first Circular Economy Index of Latvian local authorities was presented – a tool created by Latvian scientists for assessing the circularity of local authorities, said Agita Baltbārde, the initiator of the Circular Economy Index initiative and a member of the board of AS “CleanR Grupa”.

The Latvian Circular Economy Index is a unique and the first scientifically grounded practical tool that will help Latvian local authorities assess their current situation in the field of circularity and plan their next development steps more effectively.

The results of the Circular Economy Index divide the overall scale into five groups – leaders (more than 500 points), experts (450-499 points), practitioners (400-449 points), the conscientious (350-399 points) and the waiting (fewer than 349 points).

The “Leaders” group contains two local authorities – Ventspils valstspilsēta and Līvānu novads. They have achieved the highest results in circularity, they have involved residents in reaching their circularity goals, and they have fostered an understanding of the importance of circularity for well-being and sustainability.

The “Experts”, meanwhile, have a command of the elements of the circular economy, put them into practice and are able to explain their efforts to residents. Altogether there are seven local authorities in this group – Dienvidkurzemes novads, Valmieras novads, Daugavpils valstspilsēta, Rēzeknes valstspilsēta, Kuldīgas novads, Liepājas valstspilsēta and Smiltenes novads.

The “Practitioners” group, meanwhile, which is delivering significant work to bring the circular economy to life in the local authority and involves residents widely, contains 19 local authorities: Rīgas valstspilsēta, Ogres, Jēkabpils, Balvu, Cēsu, Aizkraukles, Jelgavas, Salaspils, Augšdaugavas, Ķekavas, Tukuma, Alūksnes, Dobeles, Olaines, Valkas, Gulbenes, Madonas, Mārupes and Ropažu novads.

The fourth group, the “Conscientious”, which contains 11 local authorities, implements the principles of the circular economy and explains them to residents. It comprises the following local authorities: Bauskas, Preiļu, Talsu, Limbažu, Ventspils and Rēzeknes novads, Jelgavas valstspilsēta, Saldus, Varakļānu, Saulkrastu and Ādažu novads.

The “Waiting” group, which the researchers describe as containing local authorities that are identifying opportunities to integrate circularity into the delivery of local authority functions, consists of Ludzas novads and Krāslavas novads.

“We have assessed those local authority functions that have an impact on circularity – from wastewater management to circular events, the availability of co-working spaces and so on. The local authorities carried out a self-assessment, a survey of residents was conducted in which people rated the activity of their local authority, and together this produces the Circular Index result in groups; but in developing the methodology we wanted to go further, to create a practical tool that allows local authorities to improve their performance, and so the scientists carried out an in-depth analysis by category,” says Baltbārde.

The categories of the Circular Economy Index – resource management, transformation of the economy and business, public involvement and skilful management – allow each local authority to understand in more detail which are the areas where further improvement is needed.

“The greatest satisfaction comes from the data obtained. At last we will be able to proudly highlight examples from Latvian local authorities before international audiences, present them as good practice and promote them further. In line with the categories, local authorities will be able to assess their priorities in order to improve their performance. I would like to stress that, from a scientific point of view, what has been recorded is the situation as it stood in the first half of 2024, and this is not judged as good or satisfactory, but as a baseline for further activities – public involvement, promotion of business, attraction of investment, a change in attitudes and so on. In addition to objective actions, the information and budgets provided by local authorities need to be analysed, but that is already a question for the future,” explains Dr. oec. Dzintra Atstāja.

The sustainability expert also added that local authorities will have access to more detailed data on their own results and to recommendations for each category to help plan further action.

The Circular Economy Index also identifies leaders in the categories mentioned. Thus, in resource management the TOP 5 comprises Ventspils valstspilsēta, Valmieras novads, and Liepājas, Rēzeknes and Daugavpils valstspilsēta. In the economy and business category – Ventspils valstspilsēta, Daugavpils valstspilsēta, and Jelgavas, Aizkraukles and Ogres novads. In the public involvement category – Dienvidkurzemes novads, Līvānu novads, Rēzeknes valstspilsēta, Rīgas valstspilsēta and Salaspils novads. Meanwhile, in the skilful management category – Dienvidkurzemes novads, Daugavpils valstspilsēta, Jūrmalas valstspilsēta, and Smiltenes and Kuldīgas novads.

How residents rate their local authority's efforts was also important to the objectivity of the index data, and at the same time it was established how the public rates its own conduct in the context of the circular economy. A total of 3223 questionnaires were completed.

The data reveal that residents generally consider that local authorities manage their affairs in line with circular economy principles more than people themselves do. At the same time, in the respondents' assessment, local authorities could be more sparing with resources. That is to say, while local authorities consider that they are sufficiently sparing with their resources – fuel, water, electricity, heating and various materials such as office supplies and equipment – residents give a considerably lower rating on this point.

The survey results likewise show that, in the assessment of both residents and the authorities themselves, local authorities for the most part manage things more wisely than people do – for example, they use renewable energy, improve the energy efficiency of buildings, and use smart technologies and the e-signature.

It is true that waste (sorting and reduction) and the use of equipment (using second-hand goods, repairing what has broken rather than buying new) are exceptions – on these points residents of the novadi and valstspilsētas, and the local authorities themselves, have rated the authorities modestly.

An interesting finding is that even where local authorities often provide various kinds of infrastructure connected with circularity, for example various shared or public services, residents frequently do not use it.

“Shared services such as car hire, public exercise equipment and, to a lesser extent, public transport are, in residents' view, more available, than people actually use them. This indicates that local authorities have prepared the infrastructure for the circular economy, but the challenge is integrating it fully into everyday management together with residents. That is certainly possible! The survey data reveal that there are successful examples in Latvia where residents actively take part in circular economy activity, namely in the area of sorted waste containers – here both a high availability of these containers and their intensive use are apparent. This good practice should also be carried over into the introduction of other circular economy principles,” recommends Dr. sc. soc. Andris Saulītis.

A compilation of all the study data will be published on the “CleanR Grupa” website.

The leaders of the groups and categories will also be honoured in person on 3 October this year at the “CleanR Grupa” forum, which will be devoted to the transformation of the circular economy and the environmental services sector.

As already reported, work on the Circular Economy Index began in January this year, after which both the index formula and the survey questionnaires were developed. From May to July a survey of local authorities took place, in which 100 % of all local authorities participated, along with a survey of residents, while August was devoted to compiling and analysing all the information.

The initiator of the Circular Economy Index study is Agita Baltbārde, a member of the board of “CleanR Grupa”; the index methodology was developed by a group of Latvian scientists under the leadership of economics and sustainable development expert Dr. oec. Dzintra Atstāja. The survey of residents and the data analytics were led by Dr. sc. soc. Andris Saulītis. The Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments helped to coordinate the involvement of local authorities. In total, more than 20 Latvian scientists and researchers were involved in developing the Circular Economy Index.

The essence of the index is to assess the situation as a whole using the weighted average method. It rests on three significant sets of data. First, the local authorities' self-assessment – a questionnaire completed by every local authority in Latvia. Second, a representative survey of residents, to determine their understanding of the circular economy and how they put it into practice day to day, thereby also assessing whether residents understand and become involved in their local authority's efforts.