Businesses encouraged to engage in the ethos of a ‘circular economy’

Last December we saw Environment Secretary Michael Gove launch the ‘Resources & Waste strategy’ published by DEFRA & the Environment Agency & one very clear message is evident; a circular economy as a business model, is the way our economy can become self-sustaining & design waste out of our manufacturing systems.

In days gone by & in particular in the wake of both World Wars, the ‘make do & mend’ generations were born. Global manufacturing of day-to-day items, was nowhere near as prolific as in the modern era & therefore if something broke or was beginning to show signs of wear & tear, it was mended, repaired & re-used.

The ‘disposable’ mentality of modern generations has gone a long way to causing considerable damage to Earths eco-system, with products such as plastics clogging up the oceans & non-recyclable’s being committed to vast land fill sites. However, the blame can not be solely laid at the Individuals feet. Manufacturers have over the years embraced vast volumes of manufacturing for maximum profit & the materials used having being new, innovative & cost effective in the past; came with little or no knowledge about the impact these materials could have on the environment & the global economies now.

The ‘Resources & Waste strategy’ intentions are to reverse this ‘disposable’ mentality & seek to enable a ‘Circular Economy’ to be rolled out.

The current linear economy model currently sees us take natural resources from the ground, process them into something else & ultimately throw them away. A ‘Circular Economy’ see’s the regenerative processing of a deliberately built economy, whereby technical & biological cycles are built in a cyclic way; thus enabling manufacturing & processing products to ultimately be re-used & regenerated.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has been spearheading the ‘Circular Economy’ model across cities, engaging with Governments, businesses & academics with the ideology being based thus:

‘Looking beyond the current take-make-dispose extractive industrial model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital. It is based on three principles:

Design out waste and pollution
Keep products and materials in use
Regenerate natural systems’ (1)

The foundation distinguishes the regenerative model in to two distinct cycles. The ‘technical cycle’ seeks to ‘recover and restore products, components, and materials through strategies like reuse, repair, remanufacture or (in the last resort) recycling.’ (2) The biological cycle sees food & biological based materials fed back into the system, through composting & anaerobic digestion.

The ‘Resources and waste strategy’ seeks to overhaul the ways in which the United Kingdom manufacture, re-use & regenerate. The Government pledge to ensure this happens is reflected in their 25 Year Environment Plan, in addition to the infrastructure laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy. The Prime Minister Theresa May says in her introduction that the United Kingdom will, as part of the 25 Year Environment Plan focus on:

using our land more sustainably and creating new habitats for wildlife, including by planting more trees,
tackling the scourge of waste plastic
making the most of emerging technologies, we can build a cleaner, greener country and reap the economic rewards of the clean growth revolution. (3)

With the upsurge in the need for businesses to take ever more care of the environment they run their businesses in & a need to be actively seen to engage fully in a circular & green economy; now is the time for global business to take responsibility for their business actions.

Written by Katy-Jane on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd.