Circular Economy

THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE WORLD

DEFINITION OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The Circular Economy is "a generic term for defining an economy designed to regenerate itself.

In a circular economy the flows of materials are of two types: the biological ones, able to be reintegrated in the biosphere, and the technical ones, destined to be re-evaluated without entering the biosphere ".

In practice it is a zero waste economy, where any product is consumed and disposed of without trace.

Obviously, in the circular economy, renewable energies and the modularity and versatility of objects, which can and must be used in various contexts, are very important to be able to last for as long as possible.

It is therefore evident that the circular economy presupposes a systemic way of thinking, which does not end with the design of products destined for a single purpose.

It is an economy that not only protects the environment and saves on production and management costs, but also produces profits.

A brief history of the circular economy and the multiple theories:

The concept of circular economy has deep roots, but can not be traced back to a single father or a date of birth. Conventionally, its appearance dates back to the late '70s, when academics and businessmen began to talk about it. Since then, seven different schools of thought have developed, explained again by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation:

Cradle to cradle. All the materials of the production and commercial process, both technical and biological, must be 'nutritious' in order to be continually reused within their respective 'metabolisms'. This theory eliminates the concept of waste, because "waste is nourishment"; it is based exclusively on renewable energy and respects man and the environment, going to preserve the health of ecosystems and the impact on places.
Performance economy. Walter Stahel added to the C2C theory the "closed circuit" approach of the production process that includes four main objectives: to extend the product life cycle, to realize lasting value goods, to do product renewal activities and to avoid waste.
Biomimicry (imitation of life), ie the study of the best ideas of nature and the imitation of designs and processes to solve the problems of human beings. Three are the most important principles: studying and emulating nature; use an ecological standard to judge the sustainability of our innovations; to evaluate nature not to understand what to make of it but what we can learn from it.
Industrial ecology. Industrial ecology is the study of matter and energy flows through industrial systems. Considered also the science of sustainability, consider waste as the input from which to develop an industrial plan that exploits the environment, respecting it.
Natural capitalism, which refers to the full range of natural assets, including land, air, water and all living things. It is based on four pillars: radically increasing the productivity of natural resources; equip themselves with models and production materials inspired by biology; a business model aimed at guaranteeing a sequence of services; reinvest on natural capital.
Blue economy. Literally: "use the resources available in a cascade system, where the waste of a product becomes the input to produce a new cascade".
Regenerative design, which has become the frame of the circular economy. John T. Lyle was the first to theorize the application to all the productive sectors of what agriculture was already doing: to study a production system that regenerates products and resources.