Circular Economy Hotspot
Hosted by Zero Waste Scotland in Glasgow, the unmissable programme includes visits to pioneering Scottish businesses, sessions led by the foremost names in circular economy policy and innovation, and extensive networking opportunities.
An eclectic mix of people from across the world – as far as Chile – attended Europe’s showcase circular economy event. Product designers, architects, economists, material scientists, start-up business, sustainability consultants, students, and public sector policy leaders created a crucible for collaboration. People are at the heart of our transition to a circular model as it requires trust and openness to share/create ideas across sectors to truly create a closed loop system.
Circular economy is needed if we are going to change the facts:
- 40% of office space is in use
- 10% time that cars are in use
- 13 minutes – the lifetime use of power tools in the US
- 50% of the carbon emissions are generated by the lifestyles of the world’s richest 10%
Paul attended on behalf of the Beyond Green team to hear inspiring stories of circular economy thinking such as Sofa for Life Ltd which has created a modular sofa that adapts to your needs throughout your life. Also to hear about new businesses and contacts that can support our clients. For example, Total Homes, a recipient of ZWS Circular Economy Investment Fund, refurbishes household items from house clearances and would be ideal for starter kits for housing association tenants.
Paul’s key takeaways:
Recycling validates wasteful behaviour
CE is not recycling and composting because these methods validate wasteful behaviour, CE is a shift from gaining the most value from the material (recycling) to obtain the greatest value/benefit from the producer for as long as possible. Walter Stahel, the founder of CE and Cradle to Cradle industrial design, considers legislating to ensure manufacturers recognise the financial liability for all wastes generated by a product across its lifetime.
Designers are key to CE thinking – System thinking to circular economy opportunities
This inspiring and energetic workshop facilitated by designer Leyla Acaroglu 2016 UNEP Champion of the Earth guided table groups through system mapping of various aspects of our everyday life. Paul’s table chose education and in a flurry of brainstorming connected education to buildings, materials, IT equipment, school canteens, exams, parents, budgets, transports – Leyla was excited that a spider web of ideas was created.
The secret to CE is to think the unthinkable, so Paul’s group decided to remove buildings from the education system, and soon had ideas of online learning, home learning, outdoor learning, classes in theatres, cinemas, and offices. Money saved from not constructing, maintaining and running buildings could be invested in teachers to reduce class sizes, tailored education that recognises the unique value of all humans. In other words, deliver the real purpose of the education system.
Of course, this requires society to change how we organise education – but that’s what CE demands of us all. And this leads to a key point about CE and systems thinking – broad participation is central to designing new systems because we need to be mindful of cultural needs, reflect views across the demographics and backgrounds. This was reflected in Paul’s table discussions.
In summary, system thinking approach is like an iceberg: 10% of the system is visible, but it is the deeper connections below the surface that is really where we can create innovation and fundamentally rethink how we live and how business meets our needs.
Circular Glasgow collaboration is key
An uplifting talk from Rebecca Ricketts about how Glasgow is leading local businesses to take action and prosper from new business opportunities. Rebecca highlighted that we need to use plain language to erase the uncertainty surrounding the change that will take place, as CE threatens all businesses dependent on the make – buy – dispose model. We need to champion diversity and harness the power of the crowd – as experienced in the workshop above. Identifying a local hero/champion who strongly identifies with the purpose can be powerful, and collaboration ensures that ideas are scalable, especially for the SME market.