So what is the Circular Economy?

First and foremost, the Circular Economy is an opportunity.  It’s an opportunity to make money, save costs and do better for the environment.  But what does it actually mean?

If you work in manufacturing and are just starting to explore sustainability, you’ve likely heard the term “circular economy.” Let’s look at what it means and how it can be utilised in manufacturing companies.

The traditional way of making and using things follows a linear model: take → make → use → dispose. Raw materials are extracted, turned into products, used for a short time, and then end up as waste. This model uses up resources, creates pollution and unnecessary costs.

Figure 1: An illustration of the differences between a linear and circular economy [Source: Unknown]

The Circular Economy aims to eliminate waste and extend the lifecycle of materials through reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.  Instead of designing products to be used once and thrown away, it focuses on keeping materials in use for as long as possible, extracting the most value from them, and then regenerating natural systems.  This done through a combination of developing new business models, redesign and behaviour change.

Figure 2 outlines a range of opportunities across the product lifecycle for reducing the environmental impact of the products that we make and sell.  The decisions that we make at each stage of the product lifecycle – from extraction to disposal will have a direct influence on the overall environmental footprint of a product.

Figure 2: An overview of the Circular Economy [Source: The circular economy in Philadelphia • Circular Philadelphia]

How to design with circularity in mind

When we decide to design with circularity in mind, there are a number of key approaches that can be considered:

• Using recycled materials instead of virgin resources, or even exploring ways of using waste materials
• Designing products that are modular and can be repaired
• Building business models that encourage reuse, and facilitate remanufacture
• Finding ways to recover components and materials at the end of a product’s life for reuse
• Working with suppliers and customers to close the loop to retain the value that you have already invested in the products that you make and sell

I find the best solutions usually involve a combination of approaches.

Circular thinking really can lead to new business opportunities, save costs (e.g. fewer components need to be manufactured, less landfill tax needs to be paid), increase resilience in the face of material shortages and help you get ahead of impending regulatory pressure.

A good place to start, is to map out the ‘lifecycle’ of the products that you create and sell. This can be done on platforms such as Miro or Mural or using paper prototyping.

• Pick one product – it’s much easier to go into depth if you are focusing on one product at a time.
• Working with colleagues, brainstorm the journey that your product goes on across its whole product lifecycle. Map in where components come from, the journeys that they take, where they are manufactured / filled / packaged, consider how they are sold, how and where they are used and what becomes of them at the end of their life.  Note how long the product is in use for.
• Map in any existing circularity.
• Highlight where materials or components become waste.

Once you have a visual map (such as the one illustrated in Figure 3) then you can start to look for opportunities to build in circularity.  Maps of this nature are also very helpful for emphasizing the complexity of the product lifecycle and for demonstrating why it is worth trying to get as much value out of them as possible.

 

Figure 3: Mapping out the product journey using digital Business Origami 

I do hope you have found this useful and you feel equipped to start creating your own product lifecycle maps, so that you can identify opportunities to build circularity into your business.

If you are looking for further support on this journey then drop me an email for a FREE curiosity call to see how I can help you move forward with your sustainability ambitions, or follow this link to learn more about the services I provide.

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