“Through design, we can eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature, creating an economy that benefits people, business and the natural world.”
Waste is a fundamental flaw in the human design processes. That our endeavours produce waste is not only unnatural but against nature. Look at any number of the thousands of natural systems around us… ever see a tree trying to burn off some energy?
And, just as waste is the by-product of inefficiency in design, the circular economy is built on a fundamental principle that waste is a flaw that can – and must – be designed out.
Actually, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes the circular economy as a system that tackles climate change and other global challenges like biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution ‘by decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources.’
As a definition, it pretty much covers all the bases. Did you know, for example, that the average drill is only used for 19 minutes in its life? Or that the average person will wear a t-shirt only seven times before discarding it? How about this, that your car spends most of its life parked? Or that for the 8% of its life it is spent in use, 1.5% of that is spent in traffic.
These are huge inefficiencies in an inefficient system in which the core impetus is to simply own more stuff. But this is a global economy that is incredibly wasteful. Not only that, it is built on the idea of infinite growth and consumption yet dependent on finite resources.
The circular economy is therefore based on three principles, driven by design to:
- Eliminate Waste and Pollution
- Circulate Products and Materials at their highest value
- Regenerate nature
Three points that stand in stark contrast to our current model in which we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste. This is a linear process and one that has landed us in the hot water we’re in today.
WATCH: ELLEN MACARTHUR ON THE BASICS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
A pioneer of the circular economic model, in this video Ellen MacArthur talks through the closed-loop systems in both the technical (components and materials we want to retain and use for remanufacture of products) and the biological (the natural and biological elements that can return to the soil) cycles that make up a circular model.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBEvJwTxs4w[/embedyt]
ELIMINATE WASTE
By better designing our products with their end-of-life state in mind, we can eliminate waste. A product that is designed for disassembly to be repaired before it needs remanufacturing will not only be a more efficient product in terms of its lifespan but will require less energy and resource, while retaining and returning value, in the long run.
As Ellen MacArthur states in her video, predicting when a car engine requires repair or maintenance before it becomes broken will require far less energy than a broken engine going in for part-stripping and remanufacture.
Remember, waste is cost. It simply doesn’t make economic sense to produce waste.
WATCH: TEEMILL TALKS DESIGNING OUT WASTE IN THE APPAREL AND TEXTILES SECTOR
Teemill co-founder, Mart Drake-Knight was only five when he began to question where the world’s rubbish ended up. An idea that ignited a passion to find answers, Mart co-developed Teemill, a print-on-demand apparel company that recaptures t-shirts and textiles at the end of their life to reformulate as new t-shirts and wearables.
CIRCULATE PRODUCTS AND MATERIALS
Keeping a product in its highest value state within the value stream is a core principle to the circular economy. Recycling materials should always be a last resort – a phone is far more valuable when it remains a phone rather than a total of components. By switching the narrative from a product is something a business sells and never sees again, to a product is a service and a means of a relationship with a customer that can be maintained through repair and refurbishment – far greater value, and ultimately profit – can be extracted.
CASE STUDY: Toynovo
As reported upon in Sustainable Brands, the Colombian startup Toynovo has created a pioneering circular model for toys that encourages new approaches to play while tackling issues around sustainability. Launched in 2019, the company’s unique subscription service offers members a wide selection of pre-loved toys – donated by families, companies, and educational institutions – enabling them to rent or buy for a monthly fee or in exchange for more toys they are no longer using.
Parents and institutions can sign up to receive a new bundle of toys each month or over a certain period of time, while their old toys are circulated to a new family or organisation – extending the life of the toys well beyond first-life.
Alongside the toy bundles, parents also have access to a community WhatsApp group and the option to subscribe to packages that include access to educators, nutritionists, therapists, and educational materials from the community starting at $3.
Toynovo is also exploring glues to reinforce and renew plastics with the aim to repair toys and keep them out of landfill for as long as possible. Toys made of other materials – such as wood – that can no longer be used are sent off to construction sites where they are repurposed as construction material.
REGENERATE
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation puts it like this: At the heart of the biological cycle is the concept of regeneration. Instead of continuously degrading nature, as we do in the linear economy, in the circular economy we build natural capital. We employ farming practices that allow nature to rebuild soils and increase biodiversity. Our wider food system returns biological materials to the earth rather than wasting them.
No longer should our focus be simply on doing less harm to the environment, but on how we can actively improve it.
The recently introduced science-based targets for nature is beginning to set the framework for businesses to measure and track their impact on biodiversity and their dependence on natural capital to start taking the actions to improve and regenerate it.
Meanwhile, the passing of the Nature Restoration law in the EU has been hailed as a “victory for scientists, young people, and a lot of businesses” who will be among the many stakeholders to benefit from the adoption of a new EU legislation this week that will place greater demands on member states to restore nature, safeguard biodiversity, and promote sustainable land use and soil.
NEXT STEPS: RECOMMENDED READS
Cradle to cradle – remaking the way we make things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Recognised as a key book about the circular economy having made a significant contribution to popularising the idea of eco-design among not only the general public but industry and policy makers, Cradle to Cradle is a thought-provoking read in which the authors propose that instead of minimising waste, we should be striving to create value. This is the essence of Cradle to Cradle: waste need not to exist at all..
Biomimicry – Innovation inspired by nature, by Janine M. Benyus
Janine Benyus, the American scientist and creator of the biomimicry Institute talks about the efficient and sustainable applications developed by pioneering researchers in the field of agriculture, materials, computer science, industry and more. She explore the ‘genius of nature’ and encoiurages us to observe it more closely so we can mimic it and take inspiration from the remarkable strategies developed by living organisms as they have evolved.
No Impact Man: Saving the planet one family at a time, by Colin Beavan
In No Impact Man, Colin Beavan tells the story of his attempt to find ansers – by living one year in New York City (with his wife and young daughter) without leaving any net impact on the environment. His family cut out all driving and flying, used no air conditioning, no television, no toilets… The goal? To determine what works and what doesn’t, and to fashion a truly ‘eco-effective’ way of life.
NEXT STEPS: RECOMMENDED EDUCATION
There are plenty of free resources and learning platforms available to business leaders and professionals looking to deepen their knowledge with the subject of the circular economy, including those curated for POC Members on the Products of Change Educational platform and free courses hosted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
