Circular Economy Flashcards
What is circular economy?
An economic system that focuses on minimizing waste and better utilize resources by promoting the reuse, recycling and regeneration of materials
- Tries to keep materials and energy in use for as long as possible through cyclical flows, renewable energy and efficient resource management
- Successfull circular economy contributes to all 3 dimensions of sustainable development
What are the principles of circular economy?
- Eliminate waste and pollution
- Related to the design phase of the product
- Improve production processes, reduce pollution while production
- Work on new materials with less pollutants - Circulate products and materials
- Both in biological and technical cycles - Regenerate nature
- How to better use resources
- We need to take care of the soil and how food is produced
- A good ecological condition enables a better biological flow
- In the circular economy, regenerating nature means restoring and improving natural systems rather than just minimizing harm. This includes replenishing resources like soil and water, enhancing biodiversity, reducing waste, using renewable energy, and capturing carbon. It’s about giving back to nature to ensure long-term balance and sustainability.
What are biological and technical cycles?
Biological cycles (renewables): Resources that return to the environment after use. Using waste that comes from a production process, e.g. peels of a grape
Technical cycles (for finite materials): materials like metals, plastics or electronics that are reused, repaired or recycled to stay in the economy longer
Where in the circular economy does industrial symbiosis occur?
At the parts manufacturer and product manufacturer
What are the benefits of circular economy? Looks from the three dimensions of sustainable development
Environmental: Reduce waste discharge, allows to reduce natural resources and pollution in industrial production processes
Economic: Reducing input purchasing cost –> reducing dependency on fossil fuels
- Think about Russian gas for Italy
- Not as expensive since “waste” substitutes a part of the raw materials
Social:
- New employment opportunities
- Increased sense of community
- User group share the function of a physical product through e.g. sharing services like car sharing. Can reduce costs for households
What does circular economy aim to do with the loops of the production/consumption system?
- Closing the loops: the loop between post use and production is closed
- Slowing the loops: the utilization period of products is extended
- Narrowing the loops: using fewer resources per product
How is circular economy implemented through design?
- Design long life products
- Increasing product functionality
- Design for a cycle: maintain, repair, recycle
- Green products: product striving to protect the environment by conserving energy/resources and reducing the use of toxic agents, pollution and waste
What is a green product? Explain and give examples
A product striving to protect the environment by conserving energy/resources and reducing the use of toxic agents, pollution and waste
- E.g. Recycle glass or reusable glass bottles
- Fairphone: substitutional parts
- A product produced with renewable energy is green from an energy perspective
What is a bulk product?
Product that are not packaged in any type of container, and are stores transported and sold in large quantities
- E.g. species by weight, or fruit by weight
How is circular economy implemented through operations?
Try to create a closed loop supply chain and implement industrial symbiosis where other companies may benefit of the waste discharge or excess material from another production process
What is industrial symbiosis?
A concept within the circular economy where different industries or companies collaborate to exchange materials, energy, water, or by-products
Recovering wastes that come from a production process by using it for another purpose or in another production process
- For e.g. textile wastes: used as inputs for insulation materials, and padding for toys and cars
How is circular economy implemented through business strategies? What are the models?
- Access and performance model
- Consistent with the PSS-model
- Borrowing/sharing products: cars, books, toys
- Use oriented - Extend product model
- Aims to extend product lifespan through repair or upgrades
- E.g. tire repair
- Product oriented - Extending resource value
-Maximizing resource value through reuse, recycling and upcycling (that can recover the value of a product/resource)
What are the limits of circular economy?
- Thermodynamic limits:
- Everything cannot always berecycled or reused, you always need virgin material resources
- E.g. plastic often degrade in quality when recycled multiple times - Spatial and temporal limits: CE must be a global approach and last over a long period of time
- SPATIAL: environmental challenges and resources are interconnected globally: CE must therefore be applied everywhere to be effective
- TEMPORAL: CE focuses on working on long-term solutions that lasts for future generations rather than just immediate fixes
- Economic limits
- CE may disrupt supply chains decrease production and increase unemployment
- Recycled products are often more expensive which can impact the market equilibrium
What is the role of the consumer regarding Circular Economy?
- The consumer rules in the circular economy: there must be a demand for a product to succeed in the circular economy
What is PCE?
Perceived Consumer Effectiveness (PCE)
- Perceived Customer Effectiveness (PCE) is how much customers believe their actions, like recycling or buying sustainable products, can help the environment. In a circular economy, high PCE motivates people to make eco-friendly choices and support sustainable practices.
