More than one way to skin a CAT GREENLIGHT ALLIANCE IRENE MAZZEI, PHD. & TIM BOWES
In this issue, Irene Mazzei, PhD, and Tim Bowes team up to speak to a range of professionals across the supply chain to assess the challenges faced in realising a Circular Economy.
During the last five years the lighting industry has seen a rapid increase of awareness around sustainability and circularity topics: what once was only a desirable feature is quickly turning into a must-have in product design. Numerous lighting manufacturers have embraced the concept of the circular economy (CE) and evolved their design and business operations to make their products more circular – but something is missing. Circular approaches in projects and installations are still met with uncertainty and a slower uptake, in favour of more conventional ones. Business models need to be made more efficient and competitive, so that re-using, repairing, remanufacturing and repurposing a luminaire becomes more attractive than procuring a brand new one. How do we develop not just the push, but also the pull? How do we get other stakeholders in the value chain – up and down stream – to understand and realise the possibilities and move away from the current mindset and approach? What is the circular economy? Today our industrial economy is ‘linear’ by design. It is set-up to encourage us to consume and buy new. We extract material from the ground, we process it, we consume it, and we dispose it – and then start all over again. However, there is an increasing acceptance that this approach cannot continue. If we carry on as we are, it is projected we will be extracting between 170-184Gt/year by 2050, roughly double what was extracted in 2016 [1]. 122 / 123
The construction industry has a significant focus on carbon reduction; however, with 55% of today’s emissions being addressed by renewable energy and energy efficiency, the Ellen Macarthur Foundation highlights that the CE will play a key role in reducing the remaining 45% of emissions [2]. It is fundamental that we collectively accept that transformative change is needed if we are to continue to have an economy that can support future generations. However, with the built environment being one that “hinders transformative change” [3], this may be easier said than done. The CE is “an economic system that is restorative and regenerative by design” [4]. Representing an alternative approach, it asks us to look more holistically to balance the needs of the environment, business and people. It is based on three key principles [5]: eliminate waste and pollution; circulate products and materials; and regenerate nature. It is the second principle that this article hopes to explore. How do we look to release the value of the work we are doing with product design not just today but also in the future? How does the Circular Economy add value? In lighting we are working with materials that are defined as within the CE as ‘technical nutrients’. Using the Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s butterfly diagram (Figure 1) we can show how different circular approaches can add economic value. The