Here’s the weird thing about the circular economy:
There are more than 221 definitions of what it actually is.
You can ask 5 people at the same conference “What is the circular economy?” and I guarantee that you will get a different reply.
And that’s good and bad at the same time.
Good because the broad definition means easy buy-in, innovation, and popularity.
Bad because it leads to misunderstandings, greenwashing, and the lack of consensus can slow things down.
So that’s why I’ve partnered up with Anna from Studio Berget, to create the ABCs of Circular Economy.
Anna is a designer. Her team creates and communicates solutions for the circular economy in Sweden and beyond.
She turned my idea into the visual in front of you:
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But why have we decided on these concepts for each letter?
And what’s hiding behind the terms?
Let’s have a quick look into our ABCs:
Access over ownership: In the world of circular economy, we need fewer owners and more users. Maybe we won’t own a drill or a car in the future. We will use them when needed.
Business Models: Circular economy is a trillion $ opportunity. But we have to find a way to unlock this wealth with circular business models. From rentals to repairs, companies are getting serious with profitable business models.
Collaboration: Collaboration in the circular economy is key. When loops are closed, and waste is prevented, you will find yourself working with academia, government, or even your competitors to get stuff done.
Design: 80% of the product’s environmental impact is locked in the design phase. Everything else is incremental. If we want to go circular, we need to design out waste. Make products that last longer, and use fewer and more sustainable materials.
Ecosystems: Our whole society depends on fragile ecosystems. Circular economy can have a massive impact, helping our ecosystems to thrive. 90% of biodiversity loss is connected to mining and resource extraction. Less mining = more circularity. w
Fossil-free: Going fossil-free is not just about phasing out coal in our energy systems. A lot of our products are made from fossil fuels as well, like plastics. We have to replace fossil-based materials with regenerative ones instead.
GHGs: We can’t reach carbon neutrality without circularity. 45% of greenhouse gas emissions come from how we handle resources in our products and food. The rest is energy-related. Switching to renewables is a must, but so must be going circular.
Holistic Approach: Most organizations work in silos. To go green, we need to look at things from a bigger perspective. We have to work horizontally, across departments. From sales, to design, to procurement.
Industrial Symbiosis: One of the oldest, yet most powerful and profitable concepts in the circular economy. Ever since the 70s, industrial parks have been trading waste and side streams, to save costs and CO2.
Justice: In the circular economy, justice means ensuring that resources, benefits and burdens are shared fairly across all communities, and geopgraphies promoting equity.
Knowledge sharing: It hurts to see how often we keep reinventing the same wheel, over and over. From digital product passports to refills – someone has already cracked the code. Sharing knowledge is crucial to speed things up.
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Promote your solutions to 2400+ sustainability pros, executives, and circular economists To keep this newsletter free, I am offering 2 ad slots to promote your circular solutions in The Loop per week. If you are interested in getting your solutions in front of the top sustainability crowd, let me know if you wanna partner up. Folks from VCs, great startups, and corporates like Google, Tesla, Volvo Cars, BMW, Nestlé, Airbus, UN, Deloitte, or RWE are already reading it.
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Longevity: Our products and resources often live extremely short and inefficient lives. Plastic bottle lasts 5 minutes, and then it’s trashed. To go circular, we have to design our products for more and longer lives.
Materials: Circular economy is all about materials. We look at stuff, resources, or waste flows. What materials come in and out of systems, like companies, or cities. We don’t study interest rates or inflation.
Net Zero: There’s no net zero without circularity. I love that every big company is realising this. Prove me wrong, but circular economy strategies are now an inseparable plan of every manufacturing corporate in the West.
Optimization: Improving processes and systems to use resources more efficiently and reduce waste.
Product as a service: Rent a light. Pay per hour. Pay per wash. Offer products in subscriptions. Customers don’t own them but pay a recurring fee.
Since ownership stays with the producer, there is a great potential for the circular economy, as the company is responsible for producing a better product.
9 R’s: Refuse -> rethink -> reduce -> regenerate -> reuse -> repair -> refurbish -> remanufacture -> and only then…. recycle !
Systems thinking: We don’t often think things through. Large scale green projects can go badly wrong. Systems thinking is a way to approach issues by looking at them as systems.
Rather than solving an immediate problem, you consider how all of the pieces connect to make the whole.
Technology: I don’t think it’s our silver bullet, but technology will play a huge role in innovating our way toward new materials, and processes for increased efficiency.
Upcycling: With a bunch of creativity, we create new materials and products of higher value and quality, from waste. Check out upcycling of coconut waste!
Value Chains: Value chains are a full lifecycle of a product or process, from mining, production, consumption, all the way to end of life. Without understanding value chains, we can’t manage the circular transition.
Waste Hierarchy: My favorite picture – Our top priority should be waste prevention, followed by minimization, reuse, recycling, recovery and finally disposal.
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X-efficiency: I gotta be honest, I couldn’t come up with anything on X, so I got help from Chat-GPT:“X-efficiency focuses on reducing inefficiencies within economic systems, ensuring resources are used effectively, which is vital for sustainability.”
You: Dreams don’t work unless you take action. What we need are results and solutions. Go and build some today!
Zero Waste: Forget recycling. Best waste is no waste…
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So what’s the takeaway here?
Circularity is so much more than recycling.
It’s full of fascinating strategies and concepts, that can help us solve climate change, and provide tons of value at the same time.
This was super fun, but I am aware that you can probably come up with a lot of awesome alternatives too.
So hit reply and let me know:
Which one is your favorite?
Would you change something?
That’s it for this week, see ya next Saturday!
Vojta