“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 What does the “Circular economy” mean?A good definition is this:It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. is a resilient system that is good for business, people, and the environment. (Ellen Macarthur Foundation) In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste – the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place. Here is quite a helpful video explaining what the circular economy means: https://youtu.be/NBEvJwTxs4w Eliminate waste and pollution 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. They are designed to be disposable. Although it sometimes seems like waste is inevitable in certain situations, waste is actually the result of design choices. There is no waste in nature, it is a concept we have introduced. From tiny, short-lived products, like crisp packets, all the way up to seemingly permanent structures like buildings and roads, the economy is filled with things that have been designed without asking: What happens to this at the end of its life? 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 the linear take-make-waste system and make it circular. Many products could be circulated by being maintained, shared, reused, repaired, refurbished, remanufactured, and, as a last resort, recycled. Food and other biological materials that are safe to return to nature can regenerate the land, fuelling the production of new food and materials. With a focus on design, we can eliminate the concept of waste. Circulate products at their highest value There are a number of ways products and materials can be kept in circulation and it is helpful to think about two fundamental cycles – the technical cycle and the biological cycle. In the technical cycle, products are reused, repaired, remanufactured, and recycled- for example a battery. In the biological cycle, biodegradable materials are returned to the earth through processes like composting – for example a banana skin. By moving from a take-make-waste linear economy to a circular economy, we support natural processes and leave more room for nature to thrive. From extraction to regeneration By shifting our economy from linear to circular, we shift the focus from extraction to regeneration. Instead of continuously degrading nature, we can employ farming practises that allow nature to rebuild soils and increase biodiversity, and return biological materials to the earth. If we move to a regenerative model, we begin to emulate natural systems. 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. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview
