Several countries around the world plan to make the shift to the circular economy, while some have already integrated the concept in their legislation, policies, programs, and businesses. The Netherlands is a good example of such a country, as it has proved to be an international front-runner in the transition to the circular economy, leading initiatives at macro, meso, and micro levels. The Dutch government intends to implement the circular economy by 2050, and for this purpose it elaborated several programs with clear objectives. This article explores the actions taken by Amsterdam and its metropolitan area in the process of becoming a circular city. After reviewing the assessments and reports on the validity and profitability of the circular models implemented in the Amsterdam region in the last couple of years, we conclude that they were successful and could serve as future reference for other cities aiming at achieving the ambitious goal of becoming circular. The evaluations conducted by the Dutch organizations show that the circular economy in Amsterdam is efficient, especially in construction, biomass, and food value chains. In addition, the most productive tools for the support of circularity in Amsterdam’s case were found to be the circular procurement and sharing of knowledge. Thus, this paper proposes a set of measures and good practices inspired by Amsterdam’s agenda, which could be of high value and interest for cities and regions willing to develop a circular approach in their economies.
