SHIFTING TO CIRCULAR SYSTEMS
It’s exciting when movements catalyze and bring together many great ideas. That is exactly what the Circular Economy Movement is doing. An overarching umbrella concept, it is used to describe the rapid, intentional shift from a linear take-make-waste economy to a circular one that values resources from pre-extraction to post-disposability.
Companies and governments around the world are embracing and integrating the many theories and approaches of the Circular Economy. Reports demonstrate the economic validity of this transition and the opportunities that designing products for circularity offers.
There are several key approaches that make up the Circular Economy, but the most important are:
- Turning products into product service systems (PSS) that maintain value across the entire life of the product
- Taking a scientific life cycle approach to understanding the impact of design and production decisions
- Looking to nature for solutions through Biomimetics and natural principles
- Understanding and working within the two main nutrient cycles: biological (things that degrade and contribute back to nature) and technological (things that go back into a production cycle)
- Using systems thinking to understand feedback loops and dynamics while also avoiding unintended consequences
- Viewing circular systems as regenerative, which means they offer positive elements back to the system rather than detract from it and destroy
- Maximising effectiveness and efficiency of materials and resources through design, known as eco-design strategies or sustainable design principles
The concept of the Circle Economy has been around since the late 1980’s, but right now is blooming into a global economic shift that will significantly change the way we do busines, consume products and design systems. The World Economic Forum and the European Commission have platforms and mandates to advance the Circular Economy.