An honest quest for holistic solutions to reach the SDGs will inevitably lead to a promotion of the shift to a circular industrial economy. Governments of industrialised countries should have a considerable self-interest in this shift also as protection against future government liability claims. The trends of a technology-driven ‘New Economy’ and regional strategies based on cultural identity and motivation may be the most powerful levers for change.
In Autumn 2018, Dr Marcia McNutt, President of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, reflected on lessons learned from the battle in the 1980s to protect the Earth’s ozone layer. She noted that scientists had been saying for years that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were destroying the ozone layer. But it took practical solutions to generate the widespread support needed to phase out CFCs. The lesson?
Evidence might be there, but unless there’s a practical solution, the science will be ignored.
Today, scientists agree that the accumulation of large amounts of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere is slowly raising the global temperature and disrupting climate patterns, with worldwide economic implications.1
If we agree that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are at least partly to blame for rising global temperature, then – with regard to industrialised countries – we have known the practical solution for several decades: to shift from a linear to a circular industrial economy, to manage the stocks of manufactured assets, instead of managing flows to replace existing assets with new clone assets.
Dr McNutt’s statement is valid for the era of ‘D’, where practical solutions are missing for many challenges, but it does not apply to the era of ‘R’. The most efficient strategy for policymakers is therefore to strongly support economic activities in the era of ‘R’, a rapid strategy that may trigger structural changes in the linear industrial economy. When science will yield practical results in the era of ‘D’, a second policy option will open but many precious years might be lost between consensus and decisive action.
Bold action from individuals, economic actors and policymakers is needed to do this. Self-motivation can help, remember Charlie Brown’s ‘You can do it, Charlie Brown!’, or Roger Federer’s ‘Come on!’ in critical situations on the tennis court. However, normal people need, and would greatly benefit from:
Figureheads are leading ‘all on board’, for instance in a given cultural context such as language. Translating existing wisdom – the best circular economy texts are in English – can be a key lever, such as the Institut de l’Environnement et de l’Économie Circulaire, founded in 2016 as joint organisation of three Montréal academic institutions and the government of Quebec, Canada, which helps raising the level of awareness for the opportunities of the circular industrial economy in French-speaking regions. Figureheads can also be regional political leaders with a clear vision, such as Dr Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, who proclaimed ‘I want Scotland to be a real pioneer of Circular Economy’, when opening the Circular Economy Hotspot Scotland in Glasgow on 31 October 2018.
Lighthouses have no cultural borders; they serve any ship passing by. They either guide ships to a safe harbour – the famous ‘Pharos of Alexandria’ – or warn them of hidden hazards, such as the lighthouse at Fastnet rock. Policymakers can have lighthouse functions, such as Dr Janez Potočnik, a Slovenian politician who served first as European Commissioner for Science & Research (2004–2010). In a second mandate, as European Commissioner for Environment (2010–2014), he prepared the EU Circular Economy Package, a fundamental piece of legislation. Tirelessly, he continues his engagement for a sustainable planet and today serves as Co-Chair of the UN International Resource Panel (IRP). But lighthouses can be ignored; decisions are taken by the captain of each ship, who may ignore warnings or advice on directions and not change course.
Information on ‘how to do it’ has many faces, as there is no single circular economy solution that fits all. This book has focused on manufactured objects and materials in a circular industrial economy of abundance and what individuals like YOU and me can do to adapt their daily life; what options economic actors willing to shift their business models to a circular industrial or Performance Economy as default option have; and some of the options policymakers and government have.
Policies have to be put into practice by politicians. When Anders Wijkman, co-president of the Club of Rome and former Member of the European Parliament, presented his 2016 research report ‘The circular economy and benefits for society: Jobs and climate are clear winners’ to European politicians and policymakers, they hardly budged. Yet the report shows that a shift to the circular industrial economy in European countries will reduce national CO2 emissions by 66 per cent and increase national employment by about 4 per cent, two topics which are high on any political agenda.
Megatrends outside the industrial mainstream, supporting the circular industrial economy, are many, for instance:
National governments should have a major interest in accelerating the shift towards a circular industrial economy in order to:
The notion of a government liability could be the black swan driver hidden in the climate change topic (Taleb 2007). Ten years ago, some people in Geneva discussed suing the governments that had signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but not fulfilled their promise, for ‘abandoning a planet in distress’. The idea was not pursued for a lack of court to file the claim. Since 2015, similar actions have been undertaken in the United States and the Netherlands, the latter ending with a condemnation of the Dutch government. In summer 2018, ‘protect the Planet’ attacked the European Union for violation of the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights (Die Zeit 2018); in December 2018, several French NGOs4 attacked the French government under the European Convention on Human Rights, for not protecting the French population against the health impact of climate change and for violating its climate engagements signed at COP 21 in Paris.
The circular industrial economy is supported by, and part of, a new techno-economic development, which includes trends for:
Intelligent decentralisation: the emergence of industry 4.0, industrial robots and additive manufacturing (3-D print equipment) have promoted re-shoring and regional production workshops and led to a reindustrialisation of Europe and North America. Micro-breweries and bakeries as well as organic farming for local markets are other examples of this trend.
System solutions: Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) are composite objects with a thermal conductivity ten times lower than common insulation materials; applications are wall insulation panels for houses and equipment, and windows. Window panes and frames are much thinner than in traditional components, greatly reducing material input, but needing more care in use.
An ‘eDumper’ is the biggest battery-driven electric vehicle worldwide. It operates in a quarry in Péry, Switzerland, transports 65 tonnes of material from an uphill quarry to a cement factory downhill. Each downhill trip under load charges the batteries and enables it to drive back uphill empty – an energy self-sufficient vehicle.
Long-life low-maintenance technologies lead to long-life objects. Electric motors have a technical life of 100 years. New generations of electric cars and trains powered by long-life hydrogen-fuel cells are low-carbon and on the market; trucks and coastal vessels will next be commercialised by 2020 in several countries.
Could convinced politicians formulate new policies resulting in Saint-Exupéry’s longing for the sea? Maybe telling people that the COP 21 objectives could be achieved by a policy shift in favour of a circular economy, without charging carbon taxes, would convince people to change their behaviour and search their happiness in the reuse and repairs of their belongings, realising that they do not have to renounce what they have but change the way they use it?
The biggest lever to push the circular industrial economy to the forefront may be a general perception that most of the topics jeopardising world society, listed as the objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – for instance carbon emissions, overconsumption of natural resources, unsustainable use (not consumption) of manufactured objects, work conditions and resource use inefficiency – could be tackled simultaneously by the shift to a circular industrial economy.
The plan to do it would need to be adapted to regional cultural issues, keeping in mind that industrially less developed regions, where improving food, health and education are priority needs for society, still need to build stocks of infrastructure and manufactured objects.
Sufficiency, not buying a new car, phone or garment even if new goods are more fashionable than what one has, needs information and motivation. As with climate change, the information is there but a convincing marketing is missing. Wearing second-hand clothes is the best strategy to protect especially infants against allergies. Garments which are allergy-free because they have been washed many times are available in second-hand and rental shops, or handed down within families. But few people are queueing up to buy second-hand clothing and most shops do not offer them.
Selling the performance of goods instead of the goods themselves lets fashion-conscious citizens continue to enjoy the use of objects with the freedom of frequent changes, but without causing premature waste and without top-down legislation. Other citizens may be attracted by sustainable approaches of a non-monetary nature, such as a sharing society and societal self-help groups. Repair cafés, where owners of broken goods regularly meet volunteers with repair knowledge and tools are examples of a sustainable sharing society or circular barter economy, as are local exchange markets of used objects. Knowledge and objects are treated here as a new Commons, no money changes hands.
Cultural heritage and personal identity can also play an important role in preserving objects. Society is as wasteful with knowledge as it is with goods and resources; can we restore the old wisdom of ‘old is resourceful’? Events involving vintage cars or historic airplanes attract large crowds everywhere but do not seem to inspire people to do the same.
The business models of the Performance Economy strengthen the factor Time in the circular industrial economy, and increase its resilience to uncertainty by promoting a sustainable society.
The scientific evidence and a practical solution are there, referring back to Dr McNutt, so the challenge is to spread the knowledge to other economic sectors and geographic regions. In some cases, the issue of ownership versus stewardship, of German versus Roman law, may be a cultural obstacle. Ownership includes the right to destroy an object, stewardship demands to find the best reuse (Giarini 1980). In a society of abundance, legislation imposing a stewardship obligation to maintain the highest value and utility of goods could nevertheless lead to radical changes in behaviour.
A circular industrial economy is not the only smart and green strategy there is, but probably the most sustainable business model improving simultaneously ecologic, social and economic factors. Coming back to Saint-Exupéry’s call: maybe moving the legal gateposts in favour of the Performance Economy, promoting the circular industrial economy as default option for a sustainable economy, is the best strategy policymakers have to create the longing for the sea?
The common denominator of these concepts may be a return to old-fashioned values, such as good husbandry and an attitude of caring rather than efficiency and productivity. This book has structured and illustrated the principles of the circular industrial economy but may not have answered the question of how to create ‘la pente vers la mer’, the longing for the sea, mentioned by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Citadelle (Saint-Exupéry 1948).
If industrialised countries want to succeed in building a sustainable society, the foremost task is to create a longing for circularity, for a circular industrial economy, for instance by motivating today’s shopping addicts to become reuse and repair addicts for their belongings, and good stewards for objects they rent or share.
The circular industrial economy is a bag full of opportunities and chances; we have to open the bag and motivate people to seize the opportunities. It will be achieved when figureheads like the First Minister of Scotland can proclaim: ‘We, Scotland, are a circular economy’.
And my last words will be: ‘We, the people, are the circular economy’!
We need to motivate and convince politicians through scientific information, individuals through culturally founded and regionally appropriate marketing. Motivating economic actors to change course may be best done by pioneers leading the example, like the late Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, who in the 1990s pursued the goal of zero waste for his company and served some time as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development during President Clinton’s administration.
The author is convinced that the circular economy is one of the paths to a sustainable future. Finding regional strategies corresponding to regional culture and leading to a sustainable world society in a holistic sense is a challenging task.
Die Zeit (2018) Missliche Lage. 30 August, no. 36, p. 31.
Giarini, Orio (1980) Dialogue on wealth and welfare, an alternative view of world capital formation. A report to the Club of Rome. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine (1948) Citadelle. Gallimard, Paris.
Taleb, Nicholas (2007) The black swan. Random House, New York.