WHAT IS A
CIRCULAR ECONOMY?A FRAMEWORK FOR AN ECONOMY
THAT IS RESTORATIVE AND REGENERATIVE
BY DESIGN
ANCIENT MINDSET ANCIENT MINDSET ANCIENT MINDSET ANCIENT MINDSET FOR THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
• Feedback-rich (non-linear) systems
• living systems
• our systems should work like organisms, processing
nutrients that can be fed back into the cycle
• closed loops
• — whether biological or technical —
http://www.ofmonksandmen.com/?p=268
DRIVERS FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT
• Climate Change
• Resource Depletion / scarcity
• Widespread Pollution
• Air Quality
• Plastic Oceans --> fish
• Growing Inequality
• Population Growth
• Rapid Urbanization
• � slums
https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/entertainment/south-kamloops-students-use-art-to-capture-impact-of-climate-change-1.23493572
Niya Ligtenberg (2018)
PRINCIPLES OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
1. Design out waste and pollution
2. Retain products and materials in use
3. Regenerate natural systems
• Looking beyond the current take-make-waste
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:Irisphere (2017) https://www.irisphere.brussels/en/circular-economy.html
LINE VS CIRCLE• Linear Economy: Take-Make-Waste
• Circular Economy: Take from waste – Make for non-waste – Reuse – Repair – Remake - Regenerate
EVOLUTION OF A GOOD IDEA
'1715
00
Systems Thinkingbiology, sociology,
linquist, political
science, management
1950
Resource Recovery1970
Recycling
Plato
400 BC
Industrial EcologyRobert Frosch &
Nicholas Gallopoulos
1989
Cradle to Cradle
Walter R. Stahel –
1970
William McDonough
Braungart - 2002
Blue (Green)
Economy
WBG, IMF, UNEP
2010
Biomimicry°Jayne Baynus – '82/97
°Jack Steele –'60
'"bionics"
°Otto Schmitt -1950
"Biomimetics"
°da Vinci -1500
"flying machine"
China
"5-year Plan"
2006
EU Circular Economy
Package
2015
New Plastics Strategy
2018
EU "Manifesto for a
Resource Efficient
Europe"
2012
The Biosphere
Rules
IE Business School –
2005
Ghana
"Plastics
Management
Policy"
2019
Ellen McArthur
Foundation
2010
Natural
Capitalism
Amory & Hunter
Lovins, Paul Hawkins
1999
Performance
Economy / Functional Service
2006
Alternative Economics
1980
"The Economics
of the Coming
Spaceship Earth"
Kenneth Boulding -
1966
'10
Regenerative
DesignLyle Center for
Regenerative Design
1994
Permaculture
1978
'66
Clean Production
UNEP & UNIDO
Rio Earth Summit
1992
British Standards
Institute: BS
8001:2017
'19'15'06
FUNDAMENTALS OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
CIRCULAR DESIGN
intentional mindset
CIRCULAR BUINESS MODELS
delivering & maintaining value
REVERSE CYCLES
REPAIR, REUSE, RECYCLE
SYSTEM-WIDE APPROACH
collaboration, intentional incentives, financing, standardization
BUSINESS MODELS FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
1. Circular Supplies
2. Resource Recovery
3. Product Life Extension
4. Sharing Platforms
5. Product as a Service
GLOBAL COMMITMENTS
THANK YOU: [email protected]
Julia Bushueva (2018) http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/feature/five-for-friday-circular-economy-solutions/
NOTES
• It would be good if we touch upon the Ghanaian or African reality of a large informal sector.
• The more we can show evidence of working CE business models in Ghana or Africa today, the better!
Can we give recognisable examples?
• Suggestions for ways forward would be appreciated. What should be the role of various stakeholders?
Where can we start, what is the low hanging fruit, what is a long but inevitable path forward? How can
we built on and provide actionable continuity for the UNDP platform?
• I would personally be very happy if we manage to send a message that CE is much more than just waste
management (waste management is maybe a first step but very dependant on regulation and
enforcement), that CE can start now in Ghana (remanufacturing, industrial symbiosis, sharing models,
service models, biobased applications are happening or can also happen today in Africa), that it is about
collaboration, that CE is much more than sustainabilit and that it is about economy and new inspiring
business models.
• Transitioning to a circular economy does not only amount to adjustments aimed at reducing the
negative impacts of the linear economy. Rather, it represents a systemic shift that builds long-term
resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal
benefits.
• In a circular economy, economic activity builds and rebuilds overall system health.
• Decision making about the Circular Economy can be performed on the operational (connected with
particular parts of the production process), tactical (connected with whole processes) and strategic
(connected with the whole organization) levels.