From the Board: Circularity is Our Future

San Antonio is at a crossroads like much of the world. Post-pandemic, we've experienced struggles of living in a city and community that doesn't wholly meet the practical needs of residents or encourage them to thrive. 

We have two options: to either live as we are, or to co-create a new way. The new way Circular San Antonio proposes is a circular economy - a reimagined way of approaching sustainability and economic resilience.

We're now going to tell you what a circular economy is, our mission to promote it in San Antonio, and how you can get involved.

What is a circular economy?

Dr. Walter H. Stahel, often referred to as the father of the circular economy, describes the circular economy as so:

A 'circular economy' would turn goods that are at the end of their service life into resources for others, closing loops in industrial ecosystems and minimizing waste (see 'Closing loops'). It would change economic logic because it replaces production with sufficiency: reuse what you can, recycle what cannot be reused, repair what is broken, remanufacture what cannot be repaired…

In other words, the circular economy is one that supports the living environment (e.g. humans, plants, and animals) by making trash virtually nonexistent, whether we are buying something new or receiving something used.

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Above: Walter R. Stahel’s book, and the Butterfly Diagram, a common tool for visualizing the circular economy. Click the images to make them bigger!

The traditional linear model of creating new things expects these items to become trash one day. Let’s take a look at this everyday scenario that illustrates a possible journey for these items in more detail.

In this scenario, a construction contractor, an architect, and realtor build and sell residential homes to homeowners. Once a homeowner purchases their new house, they furnish, decorate, and do what they need to make it feel like their home. After enjoying their home for some time, the homeowner might want to sell that home and move into a new house. The process of moving has a lot of moving parts such as figuring out what to get rid of, what new furniture to buy, what needs to be renovated in the new home, etc.

After our wide-eyed homeowners have enjoyed their homes, life calls for them to move again. This starts a new rendition of throwing items away, purchasing new items, and renovating. As this cycle continues, more trash that were once an intentional part of lovely homes ends up in landfills and more houses become abandoned and dilapidated as homeowners move on to new homes.

Let’s take a look at what the same scenario would look like in a circular economy.

A team of architects and contractors build a series of residential homes designed with deconstruction in mind - meaning that they know that at the end of these homes’ lives, every part of the building can be carefully taken apart so that each part can be reused in new projects or recycled. Eventually, excited homeowners move in and make these homes their own by decorating and renovating. Everything that is purchased for their homes is reuse-based, whether the items themselves are secondhand or made of recycled and reused materials.

For a while, these homeowners will enjoy their homes, but will eventually decide that they need a change in their living space and move. Unlike the former linear culture of items going to landfill at the end of life, the circular economy doesn’t involve a landfill. In the circular economy system, homeowners are able to ensure that their items either continue to be a part of their life in the new home or are given another one. They will keep certain items, bring other items to a materials processing center where the items will either be recycled or deconstructed, gift others to friends or family, or do something to ensure that they go to someone who will cherish them.

The homes get to support new lives as well.  The homeowners will of course move into their new homes. As for the previous home, that structure can either be the new home of new homeowners or become an office space for a business or other organization. However, if occupants don’t use this building, professional contractors are able to deconstruct the building because it was already designed with deconstruction in mind. Instead of demolishing the building, contractors instead will carefully deconstruct the building to preserve the different materials that were originally constructed together and will either take the deconstructed materials to the materials processing center or keep the ones that they need.

If anyone reads the above and thinks, I’ve definitely done that before, or Well, my cousins told me they didn’t want their couch anymore so I took it, you actively participate or have participated in a circular economy.

Above: Photos from the City of San Antonio’s deconstruction training, held October 2025. Two buildings constructed circa 1870 were deconstructed versus demolished, resulting in more than 29 tons of building materials diverted from the landfill for reuse in local community projects. Read more about the training here.

Although the term circular economy might be new, this system of exchanging and processing goods has always been relevant. 

Many of us have probably received pre-loved goods in the form of hand-me-down clothes, informal marketplaces (e.g. flea markets, Facebook), passed down toys, or furniture that we grabbed and cleaned from our parents. Some of us view these items with a little resentment and maybe think, I’m tired of getting old things all the time. I just want something new. Others might view receiving these items with a bit of relief and maybe think, Phew…that’s one less thing I need to spend money on. And others might view these items with a bit of nostalgia, thinking, I’m so glad I get to have a part of my childhood in my home.

No matter how we feel about receiving pre-loved goods, one fact is true. All of us got these items through perhaps the most priceless and powerful connection in our lives: relationships. We almost always receive these items from folks who are an important part of our lives at any moment or time, whether we know these folks as a part of our inner circle or meet them briefly through a Facebook marketplace exchange. Our strong relationships with each other are an essential piece of a thriving circular economy. Unfortunately, we are missing another key component of a circular economy: A strong relationship with stuff.

Living in a westernized world where products are more accessible than the backstory behind them gives us a shallow relationship with stuff. In this world, we see what a product can do for our lives before how we can support the life of the product. It is one where we are more concerned about the effectiveness of the products than the people who made them.  It’s one where we care about the efficient and speedy processes which help a product get to our doorsteps more than the resources needed for that journey. This type of world is primed to support today’s linear product-to-trash lifecycle and our shallow relationships with stuff.

And, this relationship actively contributes to a world suffering from a climate crisis, economic inequality, and environmental injustice.

Transforming the state of our world is why Circular San Antonio wants to transform San Antonio’s economy into a circular one. We want to make our community economically and environmentally resilient so that we can withstand any global crises that come our way.

Fortunately, San Antonio is primed to transition into a circular economy.

Our city has a diversity of industries, including but not limited to manufacturing, technology, and military. These industries have a lot of room to make their current waste processing systems more circular, make second-hand equipment more accessible, and to design product systems with the cradle-to-grave lifecycle in mind.

We are excited to say that circularity-focused projects are happening now. Here are a couple of initiatives and projects that we are excited to share about:

1. The HEB Reverse Logistics Center - This center is a fantastic example of what a community-loved business can do to contribute to the circular economy - reusing and valuing resources at all stages. The HEB Reverse Logistics Center distributes store products as resources for the community and processes materials that can be reused internally. This can look like unloading cardboard boxes and returning them to product packing facilities, donating food close to a “best by” date to the Food Bank to ensure that it doesn’t go to waste and much more. We love to see an organization practicing circular principles that benefit the environment and community. In December 2024, our Food Systems Working Group led a member tour of this facility and we hope to bring similar tours to our members this year!

2. Material Innovation Center (MIC) - Did you know that construction and demolition waste is the largest source of waste in the U.S. by volume? Headed by The City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) and Port San Antonio, The Material Innovation Center’s goal is to be the last stop before landfill for building materials. This project is dedicated to preserving heritage crafts such as handiwork and building preservation and creating innovative ways to use post-consumer building materials. The MIC is in a pilot stage currently, and we are excited to see how the center will impact the San Antonio community.

3. The Bus Stop Shade Cover Pilot Project - In Fall 2024, The City of San Antonio Office of Sustainability awarded Circular SA $18,000 to build a bus stop made from majority salvaged materials in collaboration with VIA San Antonio. We are excited to receive an opportunity to contribute to our city in a circular fashion and to give a sustainable solution to Texas’ heat island problem. We are holding meetings with students and professionals about design, choosing a site, materials selection, and more.

4. International Sustainability Delegations - In April 2024, Circular San Antonio organized our first U.S. Sustainability Delegation to Copenhagen. Open to anyone in the country, these delegations offer opportunity for sustainability professionals to participate in immersive experiences in European cities that are focused on shaping greener, more sustainable urban environments. Delegation trips cultivate transdisciplinary relationships with peers across the United States that represent geographic, cultural, and professional diversity. Our curated tours allow participants to engage with their counterparts in Europe, establishing transatlantic connections and relationships that can support collaborative efforts on both sides of the Atlantic. We value knowledge exchange so much - and we’re excited to be returning to Copenhagen in April 2025 with a new delegation!

5. Circular Directory Project - This year, several Circular San Antonio board members are spearheading an effort to develop a local circular directory of businesses and organizations that are helping advance the missions and goals of a circular economy. These include restaurants committed to food reuse; local repair businesses like seamstresses, cobblers, electronic fix-it clinics, and more; thrift stores; refilleries; etc. If you would like to shape this effort, become a member today!

Photos of the 2024 sutainability delegation to Copenhagen exploring sustainable infrastructure, including neighborhood recycling and reuse centers, rooftop urban gardens, parking garages topped with well-utilized public playgrounds, and more.

As much as we value San Antonio’s economic circular potential and the projects happening now , there’s another part of our city that we value more: the people.

We San Antonians are the backbone. We know how to make things happen. We are passionate about supporting families, building relationships with their local and global neighbors, and making San Antonio a welcoming city for everyone. We have the perfect blend of friendliness, passion for service, and desire for advocacy that make the city primed to transition into a circular economy.

We, Circular San Antonio, invite the collective backbone of our city – everyone who wants to make San Antonio a better city of all – to join us in our mission to make San Antonio a more economically and environmentally resilient city. 

Do our mission and vision sound exciting to you? Would you like to get involved with any of our projects? Or maybe do you have new ideas to bring to the table? We’d love to get to know you. Please reach out to us here, or if you’re ready to become a member and get involved, join here.