HOW CIRCULAR IS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY REALLY?

While the burning issues of carbon footprinting and emissions capture headlines globally, the current ‘business as usual’ industrial practices continue unabated in many instances. The circular economy is a decoupler of material use and environmental impact from economic growth (Lazarevic & Valve, 2017).

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes the circular economy as “looking beyond the current ‘take, make and dispose’ extractive industrial model, to a model that is restorative and regenerative by design. Relying on systemwide innovation, it aims to redefine products and services to design waste out, while minimising the negative impacts. This is underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural and social capital.”

So, the question remains: does the circular economy really take sustainability into account, and can we truly create sustainable practices all round? Blum et al. (2020) state that “sustainable practices must be assessed for circularity before being implemented.”

How certain are the designers, manufacturers, developers and all other stakeholders involved in so-called circular economy solutions that they are addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set out by the United Nations in 2015?

(See Figure 1.)

What is preventing stakeholders from achieving genuine circularity?

Is it policies, guidelines, KPIs, executive decisionmakers, stakeholder input, lack of financial support, society or technology? When looking at the circular economy from an industrial point of view and its ecosystem, a question arises: can industrial players rearrange their activities and their processes in order to achieve the ideal of a real circular economy?

By continuing to reflect on these questions, some literature points to the introduction of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) as the start of the circular economy journey back in the 1970s. Presently, it reflects a lot of hope for transformation in policy, material flow, sustainability and an overall win-win outcome. As with this progressive implementation, there will be improvements and changes to the policies and measures put in place over time. However, has there been critical assessment of the success of all these policies and measures implemented? In other words, where or what are the notable improvements and what has hindered the circular economy from being circular?

There are many arguments around a singular question – whether enough has been done to unleash the circular economy impact globally, with both yes and no answers being correct.

It is highly dependent on the uptake by industry, communities, various stakeholders and governments.

While ideation and innovation can certainly pave the way for a circular economy, the commitment to invest in innovation and transforming the materials and product landscape by industrialists

Useful application of materials

R0 Refuse

Make product redundant by abandoning its function or by offering the same function with a radically different product

R1 Rethink Make product use more intensive (e.g. by sharing product)

R2 Reduce Increase efficiency in product manufacture or use by consuming fewer natural resources and materials

R3 Reuse Reuse by another consumer of discarded product which is still in good condition and fulfils its original function

R4 Repair Repair and maintenance of defective product so it can be used with its original function

R5 Refurbish Restore an old product and bring it up to date

R6 Remanufacture Use parts of discarded product in a new product with the same function

R7 Repurpose Use discarded product or its parts in a new product with different function

R8 Recycle Process materials to obtain the same (high grade) or lower (low grade) quality

R9 Recover Incineration of material with energy recovery is key. Manufacturing, packaging, mining, FMCG and others need to rethink their design of products and use of virgin materials to reduce impact and carbon footprint. Industry should embrace the 9Rs as per Figure 2.

Fulfilling our consumption needs and patterns, are these changing for the better or worse?

Can we make do with fewer materials of a ‘virgin’ nature and substitute those materials, or are we too far absorbed in the way we design our products to satiate our need for more?

As per the Circularity Gap Report 2022 (CGR 2022), we are only recycling 8.6% of materials; this clearly shows we are still very much a linear society. We have regressed in our circularity from 9.1% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2020. Some even say that the circular and linear economy will co-exist – that it is not possible to solely have a circular economy.

So where do we start in our own cycles to reduce the carbon footprint? It starts with knowing the source. As a greater society, we have to pay closer attention to being regenerative rather than allowing our lives to be shaped by ‘materials’ and consumerism. Almost everything we require or use is in some form of material and most often these products have a short lifespan.

The circular economy approach has long been in existence, as an example, feeding food waste to animals and turning food waste into compost and much more. The challenges we are faced with currently are as a result of the number of complex products that are produced almost daily, and the number of synthetic materials used in their make-up. These synthetic materials are difficult to recycle or reuse.

For example, computer motherboards have almost all components glued together as opposed to being standalone components. It takes several processes to separate these components, which is accompanied by the additional use of energy and other resources. One would find that the multiple processes involved will only yield a minor amount of recyclable material. The same argument applies to the use of renewable energy. It also makes use of materials, energy and related infrastructure that are difficult to recycle. Presently, there are innovative approaches and ideas being explored around the recycling of solar panels, wind turbine blades and lithiumion batteries. These components are built from complex materials and the process to recycle them is quite challenging. It’s a starting point – one that should be explored in all other areas too.

As country populations start to balloon and we see a global growth rate explosion (in the year 2000, global population was estimated at 6.1 billion; in 2020, it was estimated at 7.7 billion). These alarming growth rates highlight the demand for materials that are going to be required for things like construction of homes, buildings, provision of renewable energy, and the like.

At the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the linear model was followed by industry (take, make and dump). At this juncture, no fear of material scarcity, overexploitation or -extraction, pollution or environmental damage was given the necessary attention. The rise in climate change, population growth, increase in consumption patterns, alarming rates of food waste, illegal dumping, material shortages, as well as the lack of education around sustainability and duty of care towards the environment and natural resources have somewhat highlighted the fears.

As per Yong (2007) and Yuan et al. (2008), the circular economy focuses on the macro level (regions, cities), meso level (eco-industrial networks) and micro level (looking at a particular organisation to improve environmental performance, like reducing waste discharges). It is clear then that for the circular economy to be effective, it requires support from civilians, corporate/industry and the public sector.

In order for role players at the different levels to get the circularity active in the circular economy, there are some areas that require focus (CGR 2022):

• Housing: The largest emissions footprint for residential homes especially in low-income countries. More use of circular-type materials in construction and more resource-efficient construction.

• Nutrition: Society’s nutritional needs are reliant on livestock and agricultural products such as crops. Use food waste for animal feed, reduce and replace packaging.

• Healthcare: Relook at design of medical equipment, recycling of some of the medical waste, and substituting single-use medical items with reusable ones.

• Mobility: Recycle used vehicles at end of life, use metals and plastics for new vehicles as recycled materials.

• Communication: More focus on the manufacture of smaller electronic items, more digital applications.

• Consumables: More use of bioplastics, recycling of furniture, closed-loop recycling of synthetic materials.