DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS

DELIVERING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY – A TOOLKIT FOR POLICYMAKERS • 23
Share. Keep product loop speed low and maximise utilisation of products, by sharing
them among different users (peer-to-peer sharing of privately owned products or public
sharing of a pool of products), by reusing them through their entire technical lifetime
(second hand), and by prolonging their lifetime through maintenance, repair, and design
for durability. BlaBlaCar is one famous car example growing at 200% per annum with 20
million registered users in 19 countries. BMW and Sixt’s Drive Now offer by-the-minute
rental of cars that can be collected and dropped anywhere in a city centre. Lyft matches
passengers needing a lift with drivers of their own cars willing to provide one through a
smartphone app. In housing, Airbnb has more than one million spaces listed in more than
34,000 cities across more than 190 countries.
Optimise. Increase performance/efficiency of a product; remove waste in production
and supply chain (from sourcing and logistics, to production, use phase, end-of-use
collection etc.); leverage big data, automation, remote sensing and steering. All these
actions are implemented without changes to the actual product or technology. A wellknown
illustration of this lever is the lean philosophy made famous by Toyota.
Loop. Keep components and materials in closed loops and prioritise inner loops. For
finite materials, it means remanufacturing products or components and recycling
materials. Caterpillar, Michelin, Rolls Royce, Philips or Renault are just a few companies
exploring this direction. For renewable materials, it means anaerobic digestion and
extracting biochemicals from organic waste. The Plant is an example of closed loop,
zero-waste food production located in Chicago.
Virtualise. Dematerialise resource use by delivering utility virtually: directly, e.g. books
or music; or indirectly, e.g. online shopping, autonomous vehicles, virtual offices. Google,
Apple, and most OEMs plan to release driverless cars on the market in the next decade.
Exchange. Replace old with advanced non-renewable materials, apply new technologies
(e.g. 3D printing or electric engines) and choose new products/services (e.g. multimodal
transport). For instance, in 2014 Chinese company WinSun 3D-printed ten houses, each
about 195 square metres, in 24 hours.
BENEFITS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The transition towards the circular economy can bring about the lasting benefits
of a more innovative, resilient and productive economy. The principal benefits to
moving to the circular economy are as follows:
• Substantial net material savings and reduced exposure to price volatility:
based on detailed product-level modelling, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has
estimated that, in the medium-lived complex products industries, the circular
economy represents net material cost savings at an EU level for an ‘advanced’
scenario of up to USD 630 billion annually; in fast-moving consumer goods
(FCMG) at the global level net materials savings could reach USD 700 billion
annually – see Figure 3.
• Increased innovation and job creation potential: circularity as a ‘rethinking
device’ has proved to be a powerful new frame, capable of sparking creative
solutions and stimulating innovation. The effects of a more circular industrial
model on the structure and vitality of labour markets still need to be further
explored, but initial evidence suggests that the impact will be positive (see
below).
• Increased resilience in living systems and in the economy: land degradation
costs an estimated USD 40 billion annually worldwide, without taking into
account the hidden costs of increased fertiliser use, loss of biodiversity and loss
of unique landscapes. Higher land productivity, less waste in the food value chain
and the return of nutrients to the soil will enhance the value of land and soil as
assets. The circular economy, by moving much more biological material through