SPOTLIGHT
Special issue THINKING
Waste not, WANT NOT Climate change, pollution and the loss of biodiversity are current issues the world is trying to address. Transitioning to a circular economy is a vital component of the solution, as OPI’s Michelle Sturman finds out...
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ave you heard of environmental adviser Kate Krebs? Perhaps not, but one of her notable sayings, “waste is a design flaw”, hits the nail on the head in terms of one of the biggest environmental issues we need to solve. It’s eliminating waste. The goal is to shift from the current linear economy and throwaway culture of take-make-waste to a circular one of reducing, reusing, repairing, remanufacturing and recycling. It starts with smart design principles that extract fewer raw materials, conserve resources and create products which can be returned to the biological or technical cycle at the end of their use. As the principal aim of the circular economy is to maintain the highest value of products, materials, components and resources for as long as possible, the transition is not going to be easy. According to the Circularity Gap Report 2020, the global economy is only 8.6% circular. A raft of new legislation including the plastic tax, extended producer responsibility, deposit return schemes and right to repair, is a step in the right direction.
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WHERE TO START There are plenty of initiatives and advice to help businesses deal with the shift. The packaging sector, for example, has seen the Confederation of European Paper Industries launch a cross-industry alliance, 4evergreen, to increase the recycling rate of fibre-based packaging; the CEFLEX consortium has published Designing for a Circular Economy guidelines for flexible packaging, and
the HolyGrail 2.0 project for digital watermarking has been launched to help sort and recycle waste. To achieve true circularity, however, there is an absolute necessity for partnerships and networks between all stakeholders from grassroots level and communities to governments, academia and businesses – plus everyone in-between. Forming part of its Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission proposed a “global alliance to identify knowledge and governance gaps in advancing a global circular economy and take forward partnership initiatives, including major economies”. The resulting Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency (GACERE) involves the EU, 15 other countries so far, including Canada, India, South Africa, New Zealand and Peru, as well as the United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
There is growing global consensus to change direction and embark on a path to a sustainable, climate-neutral and resource-efficient model In September, the first GACERE meeting took place during the fifth World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), where European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said: “There is growing global consensus to change direction and embark on a path to a sustainable, climate-neutral and resource-efficient model. “The EU is setting an example with actions under the European Green Deal. In July, a law entered into force to help reduce plastic litter across the EU and we see increasing support
