Circular Economy
By Sagar Joshi
We live in a world with finite resources. Barring few, almost all our resources are exhaustible in nature. Yet, the humans have been exploiting these resources as if they are infinite, causing heavy stress on the environment. The traditional models of development have been relying on Linear model of economy which works on the principle of ‘take, make, dispose’, that is, the resources are found, they are converted into a product and the product is used till its life-span. Once the product loses its utility, it is disposed of. The circular economy relies on the principle of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, that is reduce the use of raw materials, reuse the product and its components, and recycle the waste to use it in other new products. An example of this can be the mobility sharing services such as Uber, Ola etc. Sharing the vehicle means people have to buy smaller number of cars for personal usage (reduce), the lesser the number of cars in use, lesser the new manufactured ones and more reuse of the existing ones. Components of one car can be used to repair another car (reuse) and once the car has finished its utility, the components can be recycled to produce secondary products (recycle).
The move towards ‘Cradle-to-cradle’ grim the hope away from the traditional ‘Cradle-to-grave’, as was suggested by Walter R. Stahel, who is considered as a founding father of industrial sustainability. Several countries globally have been thinking of switching towards a more circular economy. China even recognized promoting circular economy as a national policy in 2006. The European Union has updated its legislation to promote the shift to a more circular economy. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (UK), which works towards promoting transition to a circular economy recently published a report with McKinsey and Company bringing together complementary schools of thoughts in charting way for the European Union and its transition. Some of the primary examples where the Circular economy is in use presently worldwide includes:
1. Philips Lightning: Philips is slowly switching to ‘leasing’ lightning solutions to its clients instead of selling them. CNBC office in London has a 15-year lease with Philips, where the service provider is expected to provide with the service, its maintenance, replacement and other related solutions (while still actually owning the product/service) and the leaser on the other hand pays out the service provider a quarterly premium for its services, saving fixed monthly lightning costs.
2. H&M Clothing: H&M (Hennes and Mauritz) line of clothing has been working to be a 100% circular organization. They collect older garments from their customers and recycle them to produce new and better products. Between 2013–2018, H&M gathered close to 55,000 tons of older fabrics to build new garments.
To move towards the circular economy, costs need to be incurred initially which can be handled by the long-term benefits that an organization/nation can draw out of being circular. The benefits are not just economical, but environmental as well. But moving to be circular is not just based on cost, it is also, to a large extent a behavioral change that is needed by the citizens in the quest for a better future for their children.
In a country like India with rapidly growing urban population and increased consumer spending, a growing middle-class is expected to spend more on their needs and thus, a circular economy seems to be a more reasonable and sensible approach for development in the times to come. A study conducted by the UK based Ellen MacArthur foundation found that, if India followed a circular economy path for development, it can create an annual value of nearly Rs. 40 Lakh crores by 2050, compared to the current development scenario. Along with that the Green-house gas (GHG) emissions will be 44% lower in 2050, which can also help India in delivering upon its promises in the Paris Climate Agreement. It can even help India in implementing the ambitious initiatives such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the National Food Security Mission. It is therefore, a matter of time to see if India adopts pathways towards a circular economy or the development continues in the traditional manner, as has been the case.
