by Karen Morian (with thanks to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

The problem (and the solution) starts with design

For too many products that we consume, there is no onward path after they are used. Take a potato chip package, for example. These multi-material flexible plastic packages cannot be reused, recycled, or composted, and so end up as waste. For products like these, waste is built in.

Although it sometimes feels like waste is inevitable, waste is actually the result of design choices. There is no waste in nature; it is a concept humans have introduced. Our 21st century economy is filled with things that have been designed without asking the crucial question: What happens to this product at the end of its life?

From linear to circular

By changing our way of thinking about production, we can address waste as a design flaw. In a circular economy, a requirement for any design is that any remaining materials re-enter the economy at the end of the product’s use. By doing this, we take the linear take-make-waste system and make it circular (true re-cycling).

Many products could be recirculated by being maintained, shared, reused, repaired, refurbished, remanufactured, and, as a last resort, recycled. Food and other biological materials that are safe to return to nature can regenerate the land, fueling the production of new food. With a focus on design, we can eliminate the very idea of “waste.”

The first principle of the circular economy is to eliminate waste and pollution. Currently, our economy works as a take-make-waste system. We take raw materials from the Earth, we make products from them, and eventually we throw them away as waste. Much of it ends up in landfills or incinerators and is lost. This system cannot work in the long term because the resources on our planet are finite See 3 min. video  

The second principle of the circular economy is to circulate products and materials at their highest value. This means keeping materials in use, either as a product or, when that can no longer be used, as components or raw materials. This way, nothing becomes waste, and the intrinsic value of products and materials is retained. See 3 min. video  

The third principle of the circular economy is to regenerate nature. By moving from a take-make-waste linear economy to a circular economy, we support natural processes and leave more room for nature to thrive. See 3-min. video:  

Although thinking in circles is a waste, circular thinking might just keep our planet from spiraling into a wasteland.