Accelerating Towards a Circular Economy

Core

Philanthropic

Partner:

Global

Partners:

Accelerating Towards a Circular Economy

Circular Economy – A New Systemic Model Getting your tongue around it

Circular Economy – A New Systemic Model Elements of a definition

3

Regenerative

and Restorative

by intent

and design

… aiming to decouple

economic growth and

development from the

consumption of finite

resources

…keeping products,

components and materials at

their highest utility and value,

at all times and based on

renewable resources

THE LINEAR ECONOMY

‘take, make and dispose’

Linear products typically use mostly new virgin

materials – they are resource and energy intensive

“End-of-pipe” recycling of linear products, never

designed for re-use, is problematic

Waste levels are chronically high

Most of the value is lost as waste

6

Other drivers for change A number of other factors indicate the power of the linear model is

reaching its limits

Consumer trends

Environmental

degradation

Enabling technologies

Regulatory and regional

trends

7

Circular Economy: An Industrial System that is Restorative by Design In a circular economy, value is retained by cycling

Outline of a Circular Economy Circular economy – an industrial system that is restorative and regenerative by

design

Maintain/

prolong

Biochemical

feedstock

Refurbish/

remanufacture

Recycl

e

Reuse/redistribute Cascades

Extraction of

biochemical

feedstock2

Regene

-

ration

Biogas

Farming/

collection1

Product manufacturer

Service provider

Minimise systematic

leakage and negative

externalities

Collection Collection

Parts manufacturer

Share

Stock management

Restore Virtualise Substitute materials Regenerate

Technical

cycles

Biological

cycles

Renewables flow management

Finite materials Renewables

1 Hunting and fishing

2 Can take both post-harvest and post-consumer waste as an input

SOURCE: Ellen MacArthur Foundation – Adapted from the Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol by Braungart & McDonough

Biological cycles

8

Cascades

Collection

Leakage to be

minimised

Parts manufacturer


Service provider

Landfill

Energy recovery

Increasingly powered

by renewable energy

Biological Cycles: Cascading Cascading allows additional value creation

Biological cycles

9

Biochemical

feedstock

Collection

Leakage to be

minimised

Parts manufacturer


Service provider

Landfill

Energy recovery


by renewable energy

Extraction of

biochemical feedstock

Biological Cycles: Extraction of Biochemical Feedstock Biochemical Feedstock can be extracted for further usage

Biological cycles

10

Restoration

Anaerobic digestion/

composting

Biogas

Collection

Leakage to be

minimised

Parts manufacturer


Service provider

Landfill

Energy recovery

Farming/

collection


by renewable energy

Biological Cycles: Restoration of Nutrients Non-toxic materials are returned to the soil

11

Parts manufacturer


Service provider

Maintenance

Collection

Leakage to be minimised


by renewable energy Technical cycles

Maintenance

Collection

Mining/materials

manufacturing

Landfill

Energy recovery

Technical Cycles: Maintain/Prolong Longer use preserves all value

Share

12

Parts manufacturer


Service provider


Landfill

Energy recovery



Collection

Mining/materials

manufacturing

Reuse/redistribute

Technical Cycles: Reuse/Redistribute Products can be reused by additional users

13

Parts manufacturer


Service provider


Landfill



Collection

Mining/materials

manufacturing

Refurbish/

remanufacture

Energy recovery

Technical Cycles: Refurbish/Remanufacture Preserving as much value as possible

Technical Cycles: Refurbish/Remanufacture Integrity and complexity are partially preserved

14

Parts manufacturer


Service provider


Landfill

Energy recovery



Collection

Mining/materials

manufacturing

Recycle

Technical Cycles: Recycle As a last resort, material value can be preserved

Technical Cycles: Recycle As a last resort, recycling preserves material value

15


Outline of a Circular Economy Circular economy – an industrial system that is restorative and regenerative by

design

Maintain/

prolong

Biochemical

feedstock

Refurbish/

remanufacture

Recycl

e

Reuse/redistribute Cascades

Extraction of

biochemical

feedstock2

Regene

-

ration

Biogas

Farming/

collection1


Service provider

Minimise systematic

leakage and negative

externalities

Collection Collection

Parts manufacturer

Share

Stock management

Restore Virtualise Substitute materials Regenerate

Technical

cycles

Biological

cycles

Renewables flow management

Finite materials Renewables

1 Hunting and fishing

2 Can take both post-harvest and post-consumer waste as an input

SOURCE: Ellen MacArthur Foundation – Adapted from the Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol by Braungart & McDonough


Circular Economy Opportunity by 2030 Analyses from Growth Within

4 key building blocks for successful circular set-ups To capture the economic opportunities in practice, we need to

consider four inter-related building blocks

Ecovative

Splosh

Desso

Philips

Caterpillar

Native

Global Partners of the

Ellen MacArthur Foundation:

Dale Walker: [email protected]

www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/

THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION The Ellen MacArthur Foundation works across four areas, with the aim of

accelerating the transition towards a circular economy:

INSIGHT &

ANALYSIS EDUCATION

& TRAINING

Catalysing circular

activities across the

global economy

Inspiring learners to re-

think the future through

the circular economy

framework

Providing robust

evidence about the

benefits of the circular

economy transition

BUSINESS &

GOVERNMENT

COMMUNICA-

TIONS

Engaging a global

audience around the

circular economy

GLOBAL PARTNERS

Accelerating Towards a Circular Economy

Documents