The Circular Economy In Detail

The Circular Economy In Detail

A circular economy is a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment. In contrast to the ‘take-make-waste’ linear model, a circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources. After defining what an economy actually is, this learning path explores the nuances of the concept of a circular economy, including the difference between biological and technical materials, the different opportunities that exist to keep materials and products in use, and the history of the idea. Finally, the benefits of shifting from a linear to a circular economy are highlighted.

https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore/the-circular-economy-in-detail

What is the economy?

To understand the circular economy we first need to understand what an economy actually is.

In this video, Ken Webster takes us right back to the basics of what an economy is.

The circular economy

An economy that is restorative and regenerative by design.

In a circular economy economic activity builds and rebuilds overall system health. The concept recognises the importance of the economy needing to work effectively at all scales – for big and small businesses, for organisations and individuals, globally and locally.
It is based on three principles:

• Design out waste and pollution
• Keep products and materials in use
• Regenerate natural systems

  Design out waste and pollution

  What if waste and pollution were never created in the first place?

  A circular economy reveals and designs out the negative impacts of economic activity that cause damage to human health and natural systems. This includes the release of greenhouse gases and hazardous substances, the pollution of air, land, and water, as well as structural waste such as traffic congestion.
  
  

  Keep products and materials in use

  What if we could build an economy that uses things rather than uses them up?

  A circular economy favours activities that preserve value in the form of energy, labour, and materials. This means designing for durability, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling to keep products, components, and materials circulating in the economy. Circular systems make effective use of bio-based materials by encouraging many different uses for them as they cycle between the economy and natural systems.

  Regenerate natural systems

  What if we could not only protect, but actively improve the environment?

  A circular economy avoids the use of non-renewable resources and preserves or enhances renewable ones, for instance by returning valuable nutrients to the soil to support regeneration, or using renewable energy as opposed to relying on fossil fuels.

  Biological and technical material flows

  Can a material safely re-enter the natural world?

  The first thing that most people notice about the diagram is the separation into two distinct halves, or cycles, which represent two fundamentally distinct flows of material: biological and technical.

  Biological materials - represented in green cycles on the left side of the diagram - are those materials that can safely re-enter the natural world, once they have gone through one or more use cycles, where they will biodegrade over time, returning the embedded nutrients to the environment.

  Technical materials - represented in blue on the right hand side - cannot re-enter the environment. These materials, such as metals, plastics, and synthetic chemicals, must continuously cycle through the system so that their value can be captured and recaptured.

  Access versus ownership

  Do we consume products or use them?

  One particular subtlety of the diagram is the distinction between consumers and users. In a circular economy, biological materials are the only ones that can be thought of as consumable, while technical materials are used. It makes no sense to say that we consume our washing machines and cars in the same way that we consume food. This is a subtle, but important distinction in how we view our relationship to materials.
  Further to this, it raises questions about the necessity of owning products in the way that we traditionally do. What benefit is there in owning a drill when you just want to put holes in your wall to hang a picture? It is access to the service a product provides that is important, rather than the product itself. Understanding this shift in mindset lays the groundwork to many of the practicalities of shifting our economy from linear to circular.
  

  The economic benefits

  What are the macroeconomic impacts of shifting to a new economic model?

  The circular economy has been gaining traction with business and government leaders alike. Their imagination is captured by the opportunity to gradually decouple economic growth from virgin resource inputs, encourage innovation, increase growth, and create more robust employment. If we transition to a circular economy, the impact will be felt across society. The slider below illustrates some of the potential macroeconomic benefits of shifting to a circular economy.

  
  

  Environmental and system-wide benefits

  What impact will shifting to a circular economy have on the environment?

  The potential benefits of shifting to a circular economy extend beyond the economy and into the natural environment. By designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating, rather than degrading, natural systems, the circular economy can be the mechanism by which we achieve global climate targets.

  
  https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore/the-circular-economy-in-detail