CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Circular Economy is a disruptive model for production and consumption, which transforms the current throwaway economy into a nature-inspired economy, where waste is eliminated, ressources are circulated and nature is regenerated.
Welcome to the trash-formation, where....
WASTE is gold
we RENT vs owe
we SHARE vs buy
we REUSE vs use
we REPAIR vs throw away
we REMAKE vs make
we REDISTRIBUTE vs distribute
we UP- and RE-CYCLE vs trowing away
Welcome to the Circular Economy
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PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY:
1) Design out waste and pollution
2) Keep products and materials in use
3) Regenerate natural systems
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WHY DO WE NEED A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
1) HUMANS ARE DRAINING EARTH´S NATURAL RESSOURCES:
90 billion tonnes of natural ressources (biomass, fossil energy, metal and minerals) are extracted every year to entertain humans growing consumption (source), which is expected to double from 2015 to 2050.
2) WASTE IS BOOMING: Waste generation will drastically outpace population growth by more than double by 2050. Growth in population and prosperity, rapid urbanisation as well as increased consumerism are some of the drivers behind this (source).
3) ... AND WE DONT USE THE WASTE: Only 19% of the waste is recycled and composted, the rest goes to the landfills, open dumps and incineration. Just managing all solid waste accounts for 5% of all global emissions (source).
OUR MATERIAL FOOTPRINT HAS ALARMING CONSEQUENCES: The consequences of human production and waste are clear to us all, leading to increased emissions, forests and fish are disappearing, oceans being choked by waste and biodiversity loss (source, source, source).
All waste in nature is circular; seen as food for the next chain in the ecosystem. Human production and waste can be inspired by nature and turn waste into food in a closed loop circular system. This is why we need a circular economy.
Source of graph: What a Waste 2.0 (The World Bank 2018, p. 45 + 54)
WE NEED A SHIFT
The industrial revolution decoupled humans from nature and build the fundament for how the economy operates today. This was possible because raw materials and energy were seemingly infinite, labour was available and post 2nd world war gave access to cheap credit, materials, energy and a consumer behaviour that urged to get rid of restrictions.
The foundation for mass production was laid; a HUMAN MADE LINEAR SYSTEM, where we TAKE natural ressources, MAKE products to be used and then WASTE by discarding the used products.Â
But we need to shift because the waste is out of control, ressources are scarce and the environment and our people are under pressure.  Â
The Circular Economy disrupts the linear model and suggests A NATURE INSPIRED CIRCULAR SYSTEM, where we MAKE products, create multiple USE loops, before we in the end RETURN the last value back to the cycle again.
This is a long term regenerative and restorative economy, where growth is decoupled from ressource constraints and where humans and nature can live in balance.
CIRCULAR LOOPS
Restorative and Regenerative by design
A great way to illustrate how a circular economy can be amplified, is through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation´s Butterfly diagram. The diagram shows a circular feedback loop, where all ressources extracted will stay in a continuous loop, otherwise it is not circular. The diagram show the value circle of the Technical materials (right side) and the Biological materials (left side).
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TECHNICAL MATERIALS - cannot re-enter the environment. These materials, such as metals, plastics, and synthetic chemicals, must continuously be in a loop, so that their value can be captured and recaptured to stay at their highest utility. It is restorative. The aim is to keep the materials in the inner loops (share, maintain, reuse, reman) for as long as possible. Recycling being the last destination, because at this stage you return it to its original raw material, stripping away the added value components, that went into the creation of the product.
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS - are biological materials (like food and cotton) that can safely re-enter the natural world, once they have gone through one or more use cycles, where they will biodegrade over time, returning the embedded nutrients to the environment. It is regenerative.
HOW TO BECOME CIRCULAR
ACTIONS FOR INSPIRATION
BUSINESS MODEL DISRUPTION
Service models vs ownership
In the shift from a consuming economy into a USER economy, we need to evaluate our business model to whether it profits from OWNERSHIP (Production oriented business model) or ACCESS (Result-oriented business model or User-Oriented services). Read more on business models here.
DESIGN FOR CIRCULARITY
Circular design elements
Design for MAINTENANCE & REPAIR
Design for DISASSEMBLY
Design for DURABILITY
Design for UPGRADABILITY & ADAPTABILITY
Design for MODULARITY
Design for STANDARDISATION &Â COMPATIBILITY
SOURCING MATERIALS
Renewable materials
Use leftovers from production or industry waste
Source recycled materials
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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Virtualise, Exchange and Trace
Virtualise products into services directly (eg. books, music, movies) or indirectly (eg. online shopping).
Exchange with new technologies such as 3D printing
Traceability is key in enabling a reverse logistics supply chain, this can be done through various technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and Material Passports.
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PRODUCTION &Â DISTRIBUTION
Energy and reverse logistics
Energy from renewable ressources
Focus on ressource and energy optimizations
Get your waste reused
Relocation - produce closer to your renewable ressources
Measure your footprint with LCA analysis
Consider direct to consumers distribution modelsÂ
Reverse logistics
LOOP
Technical Material Loops
Loop to extract value and prolonging life through:
1. SHARE assets (eg. AirBnb)
2. Re-USE - give product to a new user
3. MAINTAIN & REPAIR - to extend life of product
4. REFURBISH - More comprehensive repair, incl. upgrades.
5. REMAN - industrial disassembly incl. inspection, cleaning, repair, exchange of components, tested before released to user.
6. RECYCLING - Processing of materials into raw materials either via Shredding (fibers) or Melting (glass, alu, steel).
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LOOP
Biological Material Loops
1. CASCADE - Down or upcycling of bio materials, which again and again can be cascaded and eventually return to nature.
2. BIO-CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCK - plants turned into biofuels.
3. ANAEROBIC DIGESTION - break down of organic matter such as food waste into biogas. Happens without oxygen in anaerobic digester system.
4. REGENERATION - return and renew natural capital through recovering biological ressources to the biosphere (water, air, soil).
Restore health of ecosystems through regenerative practises.
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ACT LIKE NATURE
Natural Principles
1. View WASTE as FOOD
2. Build resilience through DIVERSITY - share strengths and a greater pool of ressources
3. Nature uses sun as the main power of energy - look for ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE RESSOURCES
4. THINK IN SYSTEMS - break up conventional silos and work together with many actors across public, private and social sectors
Be inspired on how NATURE solves issues and come up with new innovations - Click here
ROOTS
The Circular Economy picks up its roots and inspiration from various school of thought, from where it has further developed:
Regenerative Design (representative: John T. Lyle).
Performance Economy (representative: Walter Stahel).
Cradle to Cradle (representatives: Michael Braungart and William McDonough)
Blue Economy (representative: Gunter Pauli)
Permaculture (representatives: Bill Mollison and David Holmgren)
Biomimicry (representative: Janine Benyus)
Industrial Ecology (this is more than a school of thought, it is an academic discipline that has been taught since the 1990s)
FURTHER INSPIRATION
The Circular Design Guide by IDEO and Ellen MacArthur Foundation
