Stop Waste, Collaborate and Transition

I’ve talked a lot in recent posts about how the way our economy and society is structured is flawed due to many overlapping reasons. However, it’s a little abstract to simply state that there are problems on such a grand scale without data or a plan to solve it. Luckily there are some extremely devoted and intelligent minds at work on turning these problems and concepts into more of a detailed roadmap to the regenerative, circular future we aspire to. The folks at Circle Economy in the Netherlands analyse every detail of our material economy each year to determine the state of our world and identify shortcomings and the opportunities within our reach. Last week they published their latest annual report, the Circularity Gap Report 2021.

In 2020 the world surpassed the milestone of 100 billion tonnes of material entering the global economy annually, yet our economy is only 8.6% circular (disappointedly lower than the 9.1% of 4 years ago). This means that of that 100 billion tonnes, only 8.6 billion tonnes cycles back into the economy. We are absorbed in a linear take, make, waste society and we seem resistant to changing that despite it being an extremely new concept in the grand scheme of things. Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old and up until around 200 years ago it has always been driven by a circular system. The report found that doubling our circularity in the next 10 years could keep us well below a 2ºC rise. Many climate pledges focus heavily on energy production however that only gets us 15% of the way to our Paris Agreement targets. 70% of our Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are attributed to material handling and use, which is why a circular economy is so vital to combat the climate crisis. By keeping resource in loop we can fulfil the material need in our lifestyles whilst reducing the emissions of said materials, even providing more fulfilling opportunities within our lives in the process. Overall creating a functioning circular economy can lower GHG emissions by 39% and virgin resource use by 28% by developing intelligent resource management systems underpinning all our industry.

That’s a lot of figures and heavy information that might seem incomprehensible to most, especially if you’re reading this from an outside perspective. Yet I’m sure everyone is able to grasp how Covid-19 has shown us in a harsh and brutal way that structural change is possible. Whilst in many instances (particularly travel) only temporarily, it has rapidly sped up the rate at which we have decommissioned fossil fuels and with green energy solutions rapidly becoming cheaper than new fossil fuel plants, even financiers with little regard for more than increasing profits should surely see that as an opportunity. Post pandemic recovery packages can and should be an opportunity to provide stimulus to kickstarting the shift to circularity.

So, how do we achieve these goals then?

Well, as you can surely imagine, such a grand scale has so many elements to consider which makes it very difficult to give straight forward recommendations. Even the few simple recommendations there are could come in wildly different forms dependant on what nations, economies and industries you are applying them to. As such there is a general recommendation that the largest gains in GHG reduction can be found in transitioning the Housing, Mobility and Nutrition sectors. It is also important to remember that changing to a circular economy isn’t just about recycling to keep material in loop, it is mostly about reducing the amount we use, using it for longer in a cleaner manner and when it does eventually reach the end of its productive use, reclaiming the material and using it anew.

By leveraging the power of data and analysis such as the Circularity Gap Report, as well as smaller scale analytics, it allows the people all up and down the material chains — from manufacturers and recycling departments to policy makers and consumers — to gauge the state of their transition and identify opportunities. This is about collaboration. The circular economy weaves through every aspect of society and so must our commitment. Creating resource databases accessible between industries, sharing knowledge on the materials, time scales and use so that all can benefit from the materials. The resources of the Earth are a global resource, ones we have to share between ourselves and the natural world. Obviously creating that level of collaboration comes with hefty resistance from many individuals and industries. In our current society companies won’t just hand over data and resource without financial incentive. For many finance focused sectors, turning to circular and collaborative systems is out of the question unless their competitors also do, cause how could they possibly risk being less financially succes~cough greedy~sful than others?! As much that mindset annoys me, its the reality and so we have to find incentives to bring about these changes in the meantime — though you’d like to think threatening the survivability of our future generations is enough incentive…

We must align our goals across society. A circular economy doesn’t just benefit the climate, it benefits biodiversity, our wellbeing, social justice issues and more. Many different aspects of our world will put varying weight onto some issues which is a starting point to align them all onto a singular, circular strategy — even if they’re doing it for different reasons. To integrate these changes we need to see policy change, which is where governments and ruling bodies come in — and where our voices and votes matter! By implementing circularity into nations climate pledges, different economies can adapt the principles of circularity into their development. Oh and yes, that goes for all countries. We have different paths to take but they need to wind up in the same place. For us “developed” nations its about transitioning our faulty systems whilst maintaining standard of living. For “developing” nations its about building up their infrastructure in a new way, but this gives them the opportunity to overtake us in the global north, they could become the forerunners of a new circular industrial revolution. Finally, we need to enable these changes. By that I mean to make them lucrative and viable from the top-down. Policymakers need to address the elements which are inhibiting circular systems and stop encouraging financial models which allow linearity to thrive.

We are on the precipice of a revolution, maybe it’s cause I’m young and just stepping out into the world, or maybe there is something building, but it feels like there is something in the air. People are increasingly taking their own stance against a system which serves the few at the cost of many — many people, animals, ecosystems and futures. Just last week a bunch of Redditors gave Wall Street a literal run-for-their-money. Momentum builds, and it needs to, we’re running out of time. Major change is doable, we’ve done it before, we’ve done it in a matter of weeks when Covid hit us. We’ve landed men on the Moon, taken a picture of a blackhole, eradicated countless diseases, harnessed the power of volcanoes, split atoms, developed a web of satellites to ping data, video calls and memes around the globe in seconds — there is no challenge too big if we collaborate. So whilst it seems impossible to fathom how we can shift our economy from linear to circular, if we work together we can. Imagine floating in the ISS and gazing down at our Home, all those strings of lights reaching across the planet, the skeletal web of our species. Every material we use is down there, it doesn’t leave. All we have to do is a bit of housekeeping and stop letting it pile up behind the sofa.