By the time you have read this post, we have extracted another 1 million tonnes of resources from the earth (three times the Empire State Building) and sent about 40,000 tonnes of waste to landfill (a thousand dump trucks full of it). With that our ecological footprint is exceeding the carrying capacity of our planet by 65 percent. In other words, we need 1.65 planets to maintain our consumptive lifestyles. Although certainly no saint myself, I am struggling to explain this to my children.
At the same time, the world’s consuming middle class rose by approximately 3,000 people (almost six wide-body aircrafts full of them). Extrapolating these trends ahead in time would mean that we need well over three planets by 2050. To turn things for the better, we urgently need to find alternative solutions to our linear ‘take-make-waste’ economic systems. The good news is that circular ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ business models are offering promising alternatives.
Circular Economy
By keeping products, components and parts at their highest use and maximum value at all times, the circular economy is all about efficient use of our natural resources while reducing environmental impacts. Framed positively by emphasising economic opportunities rather than ecological threats, the circular economy arouses increasingly widespread interest and enthusiasm. By creating industrial systems that are regenerative by nature, the circular economy simultaneously decreases resource dependency and minimises waste production. Apart from direct costs savings associated to resource extraction and waste processing, it boosts supply chain resilience and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Adding to that its potential for collaborative innovation and job creation, the circular economy provides for a trillion dollar global opportunity.
The 7R Model
In an attempt to tangibilise the circular economy, we merged the Triple-R Model, Lansink’s Ladder, and the EMF Model into the ‘7R Model’. Ordered by impact, the model provides seven practical ways to get our planet back in shape. Below one will find a brief description of eachway as well as current examples.
1) Rethink solutions at every system level by exploring alternatives and restating problems. Evidenced by the rapid rise of the sharing economy, a fundamental shift from ownership to sharing is already taking place. Nowadays there is Airbnb to share houses, numerous sites to share cars, and the Peerby platform for sharing all that other stuff. Sharing products beyond singular ownership obviously requires substantially less minerals and resources.
2) Reduce resource use by applying lean design principles and extending product life spans. Introducing bionic algorithms to computer-aided design linked to 3D printing can substantially reduce resource usage. Last month Airbus APWorks presented its Light Rider, the world’s first 3D printed motorcycle with a frame structure of only six kilograms. Just imagine the possibilities when applying such concepts to for example the resource intensive construction industry.
3) Repair components and parts so that products can be used longer by one and the same user. No one would part from a bicycle because of a flat tire. With the value of the bicycle being relatively high and repair of the tire fairly easy, you logically opt for repair. Nonetheless, for example thinking of rather affordable household appliances, we still discard many products that easily could have been repaired.
4) Reuse products by transferring them in their original (or modified) form to another user. Where second-hand marketplaces such as eBay are thriving on the reuse of consumer goods, we now also see reuse of industrials goods gradually picking up. An interesting example is offered by a railway depot to be built in Groningen where contractors are being challenged to reuse sleepers, rails and clamps as well as railway switches and overhead catenaries no longer needed elsewhere.
5) Refurbish products by replacing malfunctioning components and parts by new ones. A personal favourite here is OUD NOW who are turning old cabinets into new designs. Designer Theo Herfkens simply replaces the broken antique chassis with a tailor-made modern one. Ideal for people that can’t part from their grandparents heritage yet like a current and stylish interior.
6) Recycle materials or resources by disassembling components and separating parts. With one tonne of electronic waste likely to contain much more gold than a tonne of gold ore, so-called urban mining is hot and happening. An interesting example here is Apple’s recently unveiled recycling robot Liam that disassembles your old iPhone to recycle valuable metals such as silver and platinum. Estimates indicate that about one third of global demand for rare metals can be covered by urban mining.
7) Recover embedded energy from non-recyclable waste material where feasible. With a 100% circular economy technically and economically yet unattainable, the embedded energy from non-recyclable waste may at least be converted into energy through waste-to-energy processes such as combustion and gasification. In the Netherlands about one fifth of waste is diverted from landfill to incineration facilities to recover useful energy.
To the flanks of the model we plotted ‘flows of energy’ and ‘cascading materials’. As for the former, Tesla comes to mind - shaking up the automotive industry with its electrical vehicles as well as the energy markets with its energy storage solutions. As for the latter, Freitag is an interesting game changer – upcycling well-travelled truck tarps into fashionable one-off bags and accessories of high quality and increased value.
Your contribution
For those of you inspired by the above, I have one small favour to ask: Please pick one of the seven R’s and share your favourite examples or transformational ideas in a few lines – no matter how impactful they may be. I am really curious to read your views and thoughts!
Image Credit: NASA ‘Earthrise’ (image AS8-14-2383 by William Anders 1968)
Sources Used: World Population Prospects (United Nations 2015), World Urbanization Prospects (United Nations 2014), Growth in global materials use, GDP and population during the 20th century (Krausmann et al 2009), Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth (UNEP 2011), What a Waste - A global review of solid waste management (World Bank 2012), OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (OECD 2012), World Ecological Footprint (Global Footprint Network 2016)
