Growing the circular economy.
The development of economies is seen as more relevant than ever, as the Covid-19 crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have led economists and the public of Europe to question whether we are moving into a recession. Instead of worrying about the economic repercussions of the crises, this is a possibility to restructure our economy using a circular model, designing an economy that is prepared for the future.
But what is a circular economy?
Traditionally when measuring the health and development of an economy, economists have used growth in the output of the economy, GDP as the indicator of the well-being of an economy. The apparent challenges of the climate crisis had led economists to question whether that is the best model to follow, as the earth does have limited resources to deploy. Economists have instead advocated for restructuring economies in a circular fashion, considering the scarcity of resources, hereby introducing the circular economy.
The circular economy is a concept spread by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The concept describes the current linear economy model in three steps: First, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and then eventually throw them away as waste. A circular economy, by contrast, stops waste from being produced in the first place.
The circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design:
Eliminate waste and pollution
Circulate products and materials (at their highest value)
Regenerate nature
Eliminate waste and pollution
The first principle of the circular economy is to eliminate waste and pollution. As our current economy works in the take-make-waste system. Much of this waste ends up in landfills or incinerators and is lost. This system cannot work in the long term because our planet's resources are finite.
For many products on the market, there is no onward path after they are used, take a crisp packet for example. These multi-material flexible plastic packages cannot be reused, recycled, or composted, so end up as waste. For products like these, waste is built in. But although waste sometimes seems inevitable, waste is the result of design choices. There is no waste in nature, it is a concept we have introduced. By shifting our mindset, we can treat waste as a design flaw. In a circular economy, a specification for any design is that the materials re-enter the economy at the end of their use. By doing this, we take a linear take-make-waste system and make it circular
Circulate products and materials
The second principle is to circulate products and materials at their highest value. This means keeping materials in use, either as a product or, when they can no longer be used, as a component or raw materials. This way, nothing becomes waste, and the intrinsic value of products and materials is retained.
Here the circular economy differentiates between two fundamental cycles based on the type of material involved, in the technical and the biological cycle.
In the technical cycle, the best way of retaining the value of products is to maintain and reuse them. Take a phone for example; it is far more valuable as a phone than a pile of components and materials. So, the first steps in the technical circle are focused on keeping products whole to retain the maximum possible value. This could include business models based on sharing, so users get access to a product rather than owning it and more people get to use it over time. It could involve reusing through resale. It could mean cycles of maintenance, repair, and refurbishment
In the biological cycle, biodegradable material that cannot be used, like some food byproducts, can be circulated back to the economy in the biological cycle. By composting or anaerobically digesting organic materials, valuable nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and micronutrient, can be used to help regenerate the land so we can grow more food or renewable materials like cotton or wood.
Regenerate nature
The last principle is to regenerate nature.By shifting our economy from linear to circular, we shift the focus from the regeneration of continuously degrading nature, we build natural capital. We employ farming practices that allow nature to rebuild soils and increase biodiversity and return biological materials to the earth. Currently, most of these materials are lost after use and the land used to grow them is depleted of nutrients.If we move to the regenerative model, we begin to emulate the natural system. There is no waste in nature. When a leaf falls from a tree it feeds the forest. For billions of years, natural systems have regenerated themselves. Waste is a human invention.
Whether or not modern-day innovation and technology make it feasible to create a 100% circular economy in the modern world is yet to be seen, but it remains a great framework for the development of the world’s economies, as the repercussion of climate change tells us there is no other way to go.
Tobias Soldath Detlefsen.
Source: How to Build a Circular Economy | Ellen MacArthur Foundation