This book gives the reader an idea of the opportunities of the circular economy (CE), by describing circularity, its history, structure and mechanisms.
Circularity is the principle governing nature and a circular society, the latter enabled early mankind to overcome a scarcity of resources, people and skills by making the best use of the natural resources available; sharing and reuse were a necessity and the norm. When a castle became superfluous through political changes or a cathedral redundant, their structure was dismantled and the stones used to build new houses or bridges. This circular society has been man’s best friend, omnipresent and discreet, for a long time, driven by scarcity.
Circularity has been ubiquitous and omnipresent throughout the history of planet Earth, in two distinctively different forms:
NATURE: water and material cycles are the norm, some unpredictable like weather, others periodic like tidal cycles. Nature is governed by a self-organised system of virtuous material cycles where organic waste is food and remuneration for others. The “labour” to do this is provided by trillions of bacteria, insects and other small animals, free of charge and untaxed; natural processes are not subjected to constraints of time, money or culture, nor rules or liability; nature has no master plan, no events are perceived as negative.
MANKIND: A “circular society” in the sense of exchange has been present throughout the history of mankind. Individuals created goods and tools from natural resources, such as wood or stone, for their own use and for exchange in a barter economy. Then, craftsmen appeared, using their skills to create goods for others, explore new materials like metals and ceramics and repair broken objects as a service to their owners. This evolution was driven by human desire for a better quality of life and by individual initiatives.
Human capital—people, their skills and creativity combined with a caring attitude—is the basis of this circular society. Caring for and sharing of stocks—natural, cultural, manufactured and social capitals—has been the engine of the circular society of the past and the basis of our sustainable future.
This book focuses on the opportunities of MANKIND, a circular economy of manufactured—man made—objects and materials, its potential and drivers, as well as its risks and limitations.
or from a circular society of necessity due to people’s poverty or a scarcity of resources, to a circular economy in a society of abundance as a solution of last resort to overcome devastating waste problems, and finally to a circular industrial economy as default option, appealing to individuals as the most desirable and sustainable option.
The last step is the most challenging one; the French pilot-poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1945) touched upon this kind of challenge in his unfinished book Citadelle1:
Quand tu veux construire un bateau, ne commence pas par rassembler du bois, couper des planches et organiser des ouvriers, mais crée la pente vers la mer, réveille au sein des hommes le désir de la mer grande et large.
When you want to build a ship, do not begin by gathering wood, cutting boards and organising work gangs, but rather create the longing for the sea, awaken within men the desire for the vast and endless sea.
The shift to a Circular industrial economy therefore can be accelerated by motivating
• individuals to dream of happiness beyond ownership,2,3
• owner-users of goods, and economic actors owning and operating objects, to care for the stocks of objects and materials in their possession, and
• policymakers to draft framework conditions which create Saint-Exupéry’s longing, and self-propels the shift to a circular economy and other sustainable solutions.
1 Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry. This is an approximate quote as Saint-Exupéry wrote about this challenge on several occasions in his book.
2 In Buddhism, happiness is defined as “The sum of your belongings divided by the sum of your wants”. Decreasing your wants increases your happiness.
3 Aristotle stated that real wealth lies in the use of goods, not ownership – 2000 years ago.
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine (1948) Citadelle. Gallimard, Paris