The city of Berlin (Germany) embarked on its circular economy transition in 2020 with the adoption of the Waste Management Concept 2020-2030, aimed at implementing measures to reduce household, water and construction waste. To advance this transition, Berlin established the Coordination Office for Circular Economy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection in Business (KEK) in 2022 and the Zero Waste Agency in 2023, and it commissioned a study to analyse the circular economy’s potential in the industrial sector. Despite these efforts, the circular economy in Berlin is still often perceived only through the lens of sustainable waste management. This scan looks at challenges holding back progress on the circular economy, including governance awareness gaps and policy coherence, and provides recommendations to accelerate the transition, based on the OECD 3Ps framework: People and firms, Policies and Places.