WHAT IS A

CIRCULAR ECONOMY?A FRAMEWORK FOR AN ECONOMY

THAT IS RESTORATIVE AND REGENERATIVE

BY DESIGN

ANCIENT MINDSET ANCIENT MINDSET ANCIENT MINDSET ANCIENT MINDSET FOR THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL

REVOLUTION

• Feedback-rich (non-linear) systems

• living systems

• our systems should work like organisms, processing

nutrients that can be fed back into the cycle

• closed loops

• — whether biological or technical —

http://www.ofmonksandmen.com/?p=268

DRIVERS FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT

• Climate Change

• Resource Depletion / scarcity

• Widespread Pollution

• Air Quality

• Plastic Oceans --> fish

• Growing Inequality

• Population Growth

• Rapid Urbanization

• � slums

https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/entertainment/south-kamloops-students-use-art-to-capture-impact-of-climate-change-1.23493572

Niya Ligtenberg (2018)

PRINCIPLES OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

1. Design out waste and pollution

2. Retain products and materials in use

3. Regenerate natural systems

• Looking beyond the current take-make-waste

extractive industrial model, a circular economy

aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive

society-wide benefits. It entails gradually

decoupling economic activity from the

consumption of finite resources, and designing

waste out of the system. Underpinned by a

transition to renewable energy sources, the

circular model builds economic, natural, and social

capital. It is based on three principles:Irisphere (2017) https://www.irisphere.brussels/en/circular-economy.html

LINE VS CIRCLE• Linear Economy: Take-Make-Waste

• Circular Economy: Take from waste – Make for non-waste – Reuse – Repair – Remake - Regenerate

EVOLUTION OF A GOOD IDEA

'1715

00

Systems Thinkingbiology, sociology,

linquist, political

science, management

1950

Resource Recovery1970

Recycling

Plato

400 BC

Industrial EcologyRobert Frosch &

Nicholas Gallopoulos

1989

Cradle to Cradle

Walter R. Stahel –

1970

William McDonough

Braungart - 2002

Blue (Green)

Economy

WBG, IMF, UNEP

2010

Biomimicry°Jayne Baynus – '82/97

°Jack Steele –'60

'"bionics"

°Otto Schmitt -1950

"Biomimetics"

°da Vinci -1500

"flying machine"

China

"5-year Plan"

2006

EU Circular Economy

Package

2015

New Plastics Strategy

2018

EU "Manifesto for a

Resource Efficient

Europe"

2012

The Biosphere

Rules

IE Business School –

2005

Ghana

"Plastics

Management

Policy"

2019

Ellen McArthur

Foundation

2010

Natural

Capitalism

Amory & Hunter

Lovins, Paul Hawkins

1999

Performance

Economy / Functional Service

2006

Alternative Economics

1980

"The Economics

of the Coming

Spaceship Earth"

Kenneth Boulding -

1966

'10

Regenerative

DesignLyle Center for

Regenerative Design

1994

Permaculture

1978

'66

Clean Production

UNEP & UNIDO

Rio Earth Summit

1992

British Standards

Institute: BS

8001:2017

'19'15'06

FUNDAMENTALS OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

CIRCULAR DESIGN

intentional mindset

CIRCULAR BUINESS MODELS

delivering & maintaining value

REVERSE CYCLES

REPAIR, REUSE, RECYCLE

SYSTEM-WIDE APPROACH

collaboration, intentional incentives, financing, standardization

BUSINESS MODELS FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

1. Circular Supplies

2. Resource Recovery

3. Product Life Extension

4. Sharing Platforms

5. Product as a Service

GLOBAL COMMITMENTS

THANK YOU: HEATHER.TROUTMAN@GOPA-INFRA.DE

Julia Bushueva (2018) http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/feature/five-for-friday-circular-economy-solutions/

NOTES

• It would be good if we touch upon the Ghanaian or African reality of a large informal sector.

• The more we can show evidence of working CE business models in Ghana or Africa today, the better!

Can we give recognisable examples?

• Suggestions for ways forward would be appreciated. What should be the role of various stakeholders?

Where can we start, what is the low hanging fruit, what is a long but inevitable path forward? How can

we built on and provide actionable continuity for the UNDP platform?

• I would personally be very happy if we manage to send a message that CE is much more than just waste

management (waste management is maybe a first step but very dependant on regulation and

enforcement), that CE can start now in Ghana (remanufacturing, industrial symbiosis, sharing models,

service models, biobased applications are happening or can also happen today in Africa), that it is about

collaboration, that CE is much more than sustainabilit and that it is about economy and new inspiring

business models.

• Transitioning to a circular economy does not only amount to adjustments aimed at reducing the

negative impacts of the linear economy. Rather, it represents a systemic shift that builds long-term

resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal

benefits.

• In a circular economy, economic activity builds and rebuilds overall system health.

• Decision making about the Circular Economy can be performed on the operational (connected with

particular parts of the production process), tactical (connected with whole processes) and strategic

(connected with the whole organization) levels.