LEADERS FOR CHANGE
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) is the leading voice in promoting (and advocating for) the circular economy. Their mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, and you’ll see their amazing efforts woven throughout this book. Here's how they present the work they do:
The Circular Economy
The circular economy is a systems solution framework for building a resilient economy that delivers both long term prosperity and a means to address global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, all driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution; keep products and materials in use; and regenerate natural systems. Restorative and regenerative by design, it is a resilient, distributed, diverse, and inclusive economic model that presents opportunities to create better growth; going well beyond merely addressing the symptoms of today’s wasteful and polluting linear economy. Crucially, it is at the design stage that we need to rethink everything, eliminating waste and pollution from the outset and designing instead for circulation of materials and regeneration of ecosystems.
Tackling global challenges
The climate crisis, the effects of which are being felt around the world, is a product of the take-make-waste linear economy that fails to manage resources for the long term. This fossil fuel reliant, extractive system puts enormous, untenable strain on natural resources and ecosystems. A step-change is needed if we are to have any hope of putting the world on track to meet the 1.5°Celsius target set out in the Paris Agreement and to achieve zero emissions by 2050.
Waste and pollution are yet another symptom of the current, linear economy. Every second, the equivalent of a rubbish truck of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill. Year on year, millions of tons of plastic, worth billions of dollars, ends up in landfills, is burned, or leaks into the environment and we only collect 14 percent for recycling. A staggering 8 million tons leaks into the world’s oceans every year and, if we don't rethink its use, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. Currently, a third of all food produced globally — worth USD 1 trillion — is thrown away each year. This represents a huge loss of nutrients and is a major cause of environmental issues such as soil degradation. A circular economy, by contrast, eliminates waste and pollution, designing from the outset for the continuous circulation of materials — through means such as reuse, refurbishing, and remanufacturing — and regeneration of natural ecosystems by returning nutrients to the soil. In terms of climate change, circular economy strategies could help to address the 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions associated with making products that can’t be tackled by shifting to renewable energy.
The case for changing the operating model of the global economy has never been more compelling and megatrends such as shifting demographics, digitalization and increasing resource scarcity are further reinforcing our need and ability to transition to a new model. Reassuringly, the shift towards a circular economy is already taking place and continues to gain momentum year by year.
Delivering solutions at scale
A growing number of businesses across sectors are already turning to circular economy approaches. By adopting circular economy designs and business models these businesses are capturing new opportunities, meeting the changing preferences of their customers, and mitigating their exposure to market risks such as commodity price fluctuations and extended linear supply-chain risks. It also provides a means to achieving their sustainable development goals.
Projections by sector indicate just some of the multitude of transformation opportunities. In fashion, for example, clothing resale — one of many circular economy strategies for the industry — is expected to be bigger than fast fashion by 2029. Meanwhile over 1,000 organizations have united behind the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, a common vision and set of targets for a circular economy for plastic in which we eliminate the plastics we don’t need; innovate to ensure that those we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable; and circulate all of the plastic items we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment. These organizations, including businesses from across the plastic packaging value chain representing more than 20 percent of all plastic packaging used globally, are reporting annually on progress towards their agreed 2025 Global Commitment targets.
There has been an equally noticeable increase in the development of circular economy policy strategies and initiatives across all tiers of government — examples include the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan, the African Circular Economy Alliance, and the Latin America and the Caribbean Circular Economy Coalition. This activity is sending positive signals to entrepreneurs and innovators, and is laying the foundation from which to develop appropriate, coordinated, enabling conditions. In cities and municipalities, states and national governments, and international institutions, the circular economy is gaining attention for the role it can play in meeting public policy objectives.
Support for circular economy initiatives is also emerging in the financial sector. The number of public equity funds dedicated to the circular economy has grown steeply from two in 2018 to 13 at the end of 2020, totaling USD 4.6 billion in assets under management (a 14-fold increase in 2020 alone). Venture capital, private equity, and private debt also saw a rapid acceleration of circular economy activity, with the number of private market funds increasing tenfold since 2016. A similar trend of steep growth is visible in the bond market, bank lending, project finance, and insurance. This rapid uptake marks a significant shift that can enable circular economy opportunities to scale and catalyze the efforts of businesses and governments to change the way they operate.
Accelerating the transition
It is abundantly clear that there is an urgent need to shift away from our current linear economy toward a circular economy that is restorative and regenerative. The first steps of this shift are already being taken by pioneering businesses and governments, but the time has now come to accelerate and scale the transition rapidly across all corners of the global economy. Enabled by digital technologies, business models, products and services, policies, and infrastructure all need to be redesigned in line with circular economy principles if we are to create an entirely new system that benefits the economy, society, and the environment.
Rethinking Material Lifecycles
Once you identify zero waste as a real possibility for the future, you need to make a number of adjustments to all areas of a material’s lifecycle — the various steps that take place during its sourcing, use, and recovery. To understand what opportunities are available to create a waste-free future, you first need to analyze where current lifecycles stand and where waste is generated. From there, you can incorporate conservation methods, efficient use, and proper regeneration of materials as part of your product lifecycle.
Current lifecycles rely on a linear processing of materials. Here, materials are extracted from the environment, made into products, and later sent to landfills or incinerated when the product no longer serves a function. This lack of proper management causes valuable resources to be lost forever and further drives the need to extract new and raw materials from the environment. It’s so unnecessary to throw things away, because every material — if properly managed — can be recaptured and applied to serve another purpose.
