.svg)
Last week we were joined by three industry professionals with specialized focus on the circular economy: Jeevika Makani, co-founder of RE-MINT; Dr. Kate Ringvall, CSO of Ringvall Circularity; and Michael McElligott, CEO of Smart Green Group. These three speakers explored with us what the circular economy is and what its wide-ranging implications are.
Defining the circular economy
The speakers came to a clear consensus on what the circular economy is and how it diverges from our current linear economy. The panel pointed to three key principles here for improving sustainability within operations, in line with The Ellen McArthur Foundation’s definition of the circular economy:
In particular, they emphasized the need to decouple the consumption of finite resources and economic production, and for global supply chains to be made more circular to keep raw materials in use for as long as possible. This is in order to reduce downcycling, whereby the recycling of waste is of lesser value than the original material. For example, the soft plastics in shopping bags are hard to recycle because of the mix of materials and so might only be turned into something like park benches. Additionally, it was argued that our systems of social capital need to be less extractive in order to make sure our natural environment and economic system are not harmed by our own production. Finally, it was noted that we needed to do away with our abundance mindset, and instill the sort of grandeur humanity gives to space exploration to the circular economy model in order to inspire real change.
Making the circular economy a reality
The panel noted that in practice we must move from our current linear economy (take, make and waste) to a recycling economy, before only then being able to transition to a circular economy. In terms of measuring such progress, the transformation was likened to the flywheel effect: “Pushing with great effort, you get the flywheel to inch forward, moving almost imperceptibly at first. [...] Then, at some point—breakthrough! The momentum of the thing kicks in your favor, hurling the flywheel forward, turn after turn” (Collins, 2001). Currently our activities are barely integrated with the circular economy, and our ability to do so is limited by current government legislation and the fact that value is not properly ascribed to waste.
The way forward
The panel strongly believed that government and private enterprise need to take responsibility with regard to policy and public awareness in order for Australia to facilitate a transition to the circular economy. It was also stressed that it is with capital support from the people that the government can enact overarching policies that business will not only respond to but innovate around. However, the importance must always be placed on ensuring a level playing field. In this respect, the business risk of climate change was specifically mentioned, noting IKEA’s purchase of 616,000 acres of protected forests upon realising there would be no company in the future without transforming the business model to be more circular - no purpose, no profit. On an individual level, more emphasis needs to be given to maximising the utility of and having respect for the products we already have.
