1.
The Design congruence
Just
like wind sets the boat sailing towards a smooth ride, a product design in true
congruence with a sound use in afterlife is the key to achieving circularity. A
cradle to cradle and multi-disciplinary approach within the design teams is
important. Given the fact that, in circular economy, the aim is to reuse
products at their highest value, the design strategies should not just have
focus on the physical aspects of a product. It should also be designed keeping
in mind the user behavior and resource loops. User behavior should be
supplemented with deep dive studies to make the product reach its right
destination at the end of life. Short of reuse choices, typical user behavior
to dispose of the product is abundant in a linear economy but this can be
arrested using smart choices through modular design and economic instruments.
Additionally, slowing the resource loop and closing the resource loop in equal
measures at the design stage itself ensures the design is congruent to circular
economy principles.
2.
Information Symmetry
With an unprecedented exploitation
of natural resources and usage to the point of extinction of some, still we are
least concerned with end of life usage scenarios of most of the materials. It
is only market based incentives which drive environment friendly completion of
the loop for certain category of materials. The key missing link, Information!
It is the key element which underpins tracking, mainstreaming and utilization
of any material category. There is no inventory of outgoing material or the
data thereof to think of a better utilization medium. There are always
industries in need of waste materials which act as a valuable feed for their
processing. Understanding information associated with raw material flow and
leveraging it to design a better utilization of end of life materials is the
need of the hour.
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Outgoing Servers can be reused by clients of IT companies
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3. Material Control
State of the art buy back mechanisms
work only for big electronics items and other heavy weight (literally!) items
but fail abysmally when it comes to plastic packaging. Built in smart design, mandatory
economic instruments, information and material control are necessary
pre-conditions to a circular micro-economy of any industry. Pan Nation buy-back
system embracing brand agnostic levers for scalability, ease of non-banking
financial activity to independent parties to handle financial instruments
associated with buyback, ease of reverse disposal options to consumers and
inter-PRO arrangements for goods handling across state boundaries are key
tenets to bringing back the lost circular economy. Finally closing this
material loop with ensuring utilization of waste material by the industry which
has maximum throughput for the material category. In India, every consumer was
a custodian of sorts for closing the loop for glass beverage bottles and many other
household items around two decades back. All this stands drastically changed
now with companies demanding higher growth than ever and thus replacing
sustainable material choices with linear materials.
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| Built-in material control with glass bottles |
4.
Policy Instruments
Just like EEESL for power sector,
DCR scheme for solar energy, government’s EV procurement policy etc. a unified
and central government run policy cum procurement arm should be envisaged for
transitioning to circular economy. It can be started with implementing in
government offices, PSUs and then this can later be transformed and mandated
across key private sector industries. A policy where it is backed by an
in-house implementation arm for a clear vision and time bound outcomes is a
great ingredient for a successful outcome.
5. Business Models
An enormous amount of economic value
lies untapped by companies when working in the linear model of operating. A
systemic shift in thinking is needed to move toward resource efficiency and
built in sustainability. There are various closed loop business models which
hold potential for practical approach to circularity.
a) Closed loop supply chain model
There are abundant design and raw
material choices available today to aim for a closed loop supply chain. Designing
products that come from natural sources and thus can safely assimilate in their
regenerative nutrient life cycles are the preferred choice for any consortium
of industries committing to closing the loop. Using renewable, low carbon
impact materials in the first place with end of life use contracts in place is
half the battle won. Maximizing product use and retaining material quality at
their highest value is another strategic call which can be built on existing
channels. Material combinations with increasing RoHS compliance, bio-based
material choices, new age commercial materials such as PLA, renewable materials
such as bagasse etc. are increasingly being used across industries. Natural end
of life choice will then be a combination of market based incentives and
minimal smart choices towards the start of their long circular journey!
b) Leasing or product as a service
model
From cars to electronics to
furniture, there is all around transition from pure ownership to leasing or
usage based charge. When the full ownership and control remains with the
original owner which is more commonly an aggregator or the company itself, the
economies of scope increases manifold to do something radically in sync with
achieving circularity. IKEA sustainable
initiatives are using furniture as a service model and exploring scalable
subscription services for everything from couches to kitchens.
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| Lighting as a Service |
c) Sharing Economy model
A sharing model utilizes the highest
value of a product or service for maximizing its usage. The end goals of any
sharing economy should be to maximize product or service usage through various
collaborative models. The sharing models can also exist across industries such
as equipment, services, and personnel with multiple business models.
d) Modular, Repairable Design
Economy
Earlier, products contained modular
design providing visible, standard access to the inner working of any
functioning device. Gradual replacement of this form came about with aesthetics
and sturdiness finding the same top pedestal and repair, reuse took a backseat.
Prime examples are of course, Apple and Samsung. Any company would strategize
to promote its new products over repairing of old ones but government mandated
access provisions to the inner most modular part, standardization of spare
parts, whole product designs and easy availability of spare parts can solve the
problem to a great extent. Large swathes of people still would be willing to
continue their favorite gadget provided there is no planned obsolescence and
its repairable from the word go.
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| A Modular Chair |
e) Recycling and Energy Recovery
For bio-polymers, textiles, plastics,
wood, electronics and paper, science has proved time and again that recycling
is the most effective and preferred option followed by energy recovery and
landfill. This is true barring a few materials which are net carbon negative if
opted for recycling. Reduce, reuse of course come much before. In a case where
there are not many takers to complete the circular value chain, the material
must be diverted for recycling.
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| Classroom bench made of used beverage Tetra Pak Carton |
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