Ever since the start of mass production, we are living in a culture of take, make, use and dispose – a culture of waste. Resources are used from nature to make products and when we no longer need them, we throw them away. This is called a linear economy.
But what if we designed products or used resources in a way that reduced waste? Instead of becoming waste at the end of their lifecycle, they could again become a resource? Or if waste from an industrial process could be used to feed in or create a new product and create additional revenue? This is what we call a circular economy.
This illustration shows 8.3 billion tons of plastic produced since its invention in 1950.
A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. To find out more read about it on the Ellen Macarthur page here
Circular Economy Elements
Prioritize
regenerative resources
Design
for the future
Preserve
what is already made
Rethink
the business model
Incorporate
digital technology
Use
waste as a resource
Collaborate
to create shared value
The 4 principles of the Circular Economy
Waste is a resource
This principle stands for the continuous cycling of materials and products. A material or product that is no longer used, shouldn’t become ‘waste’, but instead should be part of a new cycle of use. In nature, one species’s waste is always another species’s food. For instance, birds eat berries. Bird droppings containing a berries seed and acting as a fertiliser, enable these to grow into plants. We should use the same principle in recycling, making a former waste, such as plastic, glass and paper into materials for new products.
Resilience through diversity
Resilience means being able to face change while continuing to develop. Greater biodiversity contributes to the general health of the system. Systems with many different components prove to be more resilient. A jungle or a forest ecosystem may serve as examples of this principle in nature. In a man-made system, it may be a farm producing different foods where the production processes are interconnected, or a factory where by-products (water, heat, energy, materials) are reused in the process.
Energy from Renewable Resources
Solar energy, wind power, tidal power are the major sources of renewable energy which should be used more. In a natural system, a plant uses sunlight to grow. In a man-made world, we also should make use of renewable energy instead of coal, oil and gas.
Think in Systems
This principle is about numerous actors working together to create effective flows of materials and information. In nature, this is the way the food chain operates. If one species goes extinct, it can affect many other species, because they are interdependent in complex ways. In the man-made system, the changes we make may lead to unexpected and oftentimes unpredictable effects.
Videos to inspire you
The Circular Economy - Ellen MacArthur Foundation
World Economic forum has several videos regarding the Circular Economy. They can be found here.
Interesting Reads
These Indian fishermen take plastic out of the sea and use it to build roads
Every one of India’s 1.3 billion people uses an average 11kg of plastic each year. After being used, much of this plastic finds its way to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, where it can maim and kill fish, birds and other marine wildlife.
Did the UK reach a maximum use of material resources in the early part of the last decade?
Chris Goodall explains how a sustainable economy doesn’t have to be one without growth. Growth does not have to come with increased use of natural resources and exploitation of the environment.
The return to Nature: how technology liberates the environment
How technology has reduced many of the dimensions of the human footprint even as population rises and why this trend is likely to continue into the future.
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
Michael Braungart and William McDonough argue that this approach perpetuates a one-way, ``cradle to grave`` manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90% of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic.
More from Less
Andrew McAfee conclusively demonstrates how environmentalism requires more technology and capitalism, not less.