The circular economy and how it can improve your business
The ever-present challenges of climate change, pollution, and damage to ecosystems have forced us to think hard about how we live our lives. From the food we consume, the clothes we buy, to the products we use, mass throw-away, consumerism has become the norm. But, the challenges of the last two years have forced us further to examine our lifestyles, which extends to how we run our businesses. Without a complete rethink and urgent action, we are in trouble, environmentally, societally, and economically. Summits like Cop26 seek to address these challenges, change perceptions, and encourage us to change and innovate for a positive future.
The linear economy
At present and for many years, we have been living in what is termed as a linear economy. A linear economy uses natural resources and turns them into products that ultimately become waste, partly due to how they were designed and produced. Often summarised as a 'take, make, waste' process, it highlights the non-sustainable trajectory we are currently on, using up finite resources in business and everyday life, from how products are designed and thrown away to how we consume food and other materials.
“The circular model aims to create a closed-loop system that will reduce the misuse of resources”
The Circular Model
In contrast, a circular economy, also known as circularity, is a model of production and consumption that involves reusing, sharing, leasing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, and recycling existing materials to extend their life for as long as possible. The circular model aims to create a closed-loop system that will reduce the misuse of resources, generate less waste, and address climate change, pollution, and reduce carbon emissions. Within the circular economy, the lifespan of products, materials, and infrastructure is prolonged. Rather than going to landfills, waste can be used to create renewable energy that becomes the input for other industrial processes or can be used as a natural regenerative resource on the land, such as compost.
Global perceptions
Globally there are differentiations in the definition of the circular economy. While China has a top-down approach, the EU, Japan, and the USA are aligned in the interpretation and goals, describing it as a construct to design bottom-up environmental and waste management policies. The ultimate aim of the circular model is to disconnect urgent global ecological pressures from economic growth.
By building a circular model, we transform the economic, social, and environmental approaches to production and consumption so that our methods become sustainable and transform the viability of our long-term future. The circular economy framework has three principal factors:
The elimination of waste and pollution
To prolong the use and reuse of products
Regeneration of natural resources
History of the circular model
The circular model is not a new conscept; it was first noted in a book by Kenneth E. Boulding in 1966. Laterly The Ellen Mccarthy Foundation circulated the concept across Europe and the Americas, but three significant events helped with the concept's dissemination. Between 2000 and 2010, the price of raw materials skyrocketed. The Chinese took control of many rare materials, and in 2008 the economic crisis expedited the belief that we should adopt a new economic model.
Benefits of circularity
The circular economy would benefit us all by decoupling the burden on natural resources from economic growth, reducing our dependence on essential materials from foreign suppliers, reducing Co2 emissions, creating less waste, and changing how we design and produce products. It would also change how we consume materials and products. From a business perspective, we would have better control over the supply of raw materials and reduce price unpredictability, waste, and pollution while prolonging products' life. These benefits would also extend to new customer areas and create longer-term shareholder value. By changing the model, we will generate more employment opportunities and impact prosperity while at the same time drastically eliminating greenhouse emissions, waste, and pollution.
Noah Buscher
Construction and the circular economy
The construction industry is the lead consumer of raw materials. The continued urbanization of populations facilitates mass consumption. Cities with vast growth can significantly benefit from circular considerations by utilizing technology, sharing vehicles and buildings, and tracking the use of materials and services. Existing buildings could benefit by being used to their full potential. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 60-65% of European office space alone is underutilized, including during office hours. If we applied circular principles to urban infrastructure, we could produce stable, inclusive, and sustainable urban economies that would benefit people, business, homeowners and the environment.
Innovation through flexibility
While some multi-national organizations are making moves to change their business models, it will perhaps be the smaller companies that are innovative and have enough flexibility to create a significant change. To transform the construction industry and adopt a more circular approach, the industry must consider the entire building lifecycle. From initial design to contractors' and suppliers' models, new processes and collaborations could help transform the industry towards circularity while the reuse of demolition materials will continue to bring greater value to production.
Martin Katler
Materials facilitating circularity
According to DR Alan Knight, steel, an essential product in construction, can help transform the model. The continuous invention of new steels plays a significant role. From landfill taxes to financial incentives, the waste management sector of construction is beginning to make strides towards sustainable goals by encouraging source separation, recycling and reuse of C&D waste. But while recycling is perhaps the area currently adopting the most changes in the construction and demolition lifecycle, there is still much work to be done in the earlier stages. The circular economy can help businesses save money from both a waste management and supply perspective. While there can be challenges pertaining to product standards in recycled materials. Repurposing and reducing products to landfill would benefit businesses further financially with the increased availability of high standard renewable materials.
The way forward
Many of today's construction business models have inefficiencies that place a further financial burden upon businesses. This is further impacted by global challenges like the pandemic that affect supply chains and project timelines. Increasing the use of assets and maximizing the long-term value of a building's materials and use of space adds significant value both economically and for timescales.
Alain Pham
By changing perceptions and creating closer collaborations across the construction lifecycle, there is an optimism and belief that we can transition to a circular model. This must be an cohesive goal that includes all actors involved in urban planning and building works; from governments to construction companies to the tenants themselves. By utilizing technology to produce collaborative databases and platforms to document material information, reuse, and residual value at the end of life, the industry will have the data to use resources most efficiently. The industry has already adopted intelligent digital building models such as BIM (building information modelling) to connect people, processes, and technology for more efficient and effective use of time and resources.
As consumers and in business we take, make, and we dispose - eating into a finite supply of resources - this is obviously unsustainable. Industries need to ask how they can change the model from linear to circular by disassembling and regenerating, recycling valuable materials, and turning waste into capital. It makes commercial sense to make the goods of today the resources of tomorrow. Let's consider how we design, produce and consume. For instance, we could license products instead of buying them, with the eventual aim of returning them to their manufacturers where their biological components can be used for renewable energy. With different modes of design, processes and ideas like these, we have some chance of changing the model. The circular economy must span all manufacturers and areas of business. By keeping products and materials in use, farming as close to nature as possible, repurposing, and making a profit out of waste, we can create long-term sustainable models that will ensure continued viability for business while protecting our planet and our future.
Yellowsack and the environment
Yellowsack aims to lead the way in sustainable construction and renovation waste handling. Our flexible dumpster bags come in two sizes to help facilitate source separation and maximise the percentage of recycled materials. As we continue to grow we aim to continually reduce the percentage of waste to landfill for a greener future for all.
