Circular Economy

From Waste Reduction to Value Creation

Karen Delchet-Cochet

• Publisher: Wiley-ISTE
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781119777052
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Environmental Management
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book is aimed at companies, researchers, consultants, consumers, students and any interested public interested in the subject, the reflections and practices of the circular economy. As part of the draft law on the circular economy in France, the authors (researchers and experts) analyze the data and the reflections and base their arguments on real examples in order to propose solutions and recommendations for a green economy. It gives an updated overview of the reflections and practices around the circular economy. The book is divided into three parts: - The company and its functions, innovative business models - The institutional, legislative and normative framework - Some sectors of activity with the prism of the circular economy

PART 1
The Circular Economy, Between Framework and Stakes

1
The Circular Economy: Historical Perspective and Contemporary Issues

1.1. Introduction

Over the past 10 years, the circular economy has experienced spectacular interest from public authorities, the media, economic and social actors and, more generally, the general public. This enthusiasm is based on a vulgate illustrated by a short promotional film of one and a half minutes that can be viewed online on the European Union’s website¹. What does this film tell us? Each individual (here a European) consumes an increasing amount of raw materials (14 tons per inhabitant of Europe) and generates an increasing volume of waste (5 tons per inhabitant of Europe). These products, resources and waste could, on the other hand, be repaired, reused or recycled. This is the principle of circular economy. It is therefore necessary, as is explained, to move away from the linear economic model that has gradually become structured since the industrial revolution and has eventually become dominant. This linear economy is based on the idea of a world of infinite resources, which can be taken without limits and transformed into products, which in turn will be consumed and then disposed of in landfills. Conversely, the circular economy model aims to close the flows of materials and energy circulating in the economy. Several strategies could be used to achieve this: reducing the quantities of materials and energy actually used to produce goods, extending their lifespan through sharing, repair and reuse, or recycling the materials they contain at the end of their life, according to an endless cycle.

As this short film highlights, circular economy is nowadays presented in the form of a utopian narrative that draws a new economic model and an ecologically sustainable society. This is where a crucial explanatory factor for the current success of the notion lies: the common view of the circular economy does not threaten blood and tears, or the specter of degrowth as a condition for saving the planet; conversely, it suggests that another mode of growth, more virtuous, and based on the principles of economy and systematic reuse of resources, is possible.

However, the expert and historian are left in doubt: is the circular model really new? As for the linear model, how far back does it really go? And if it is not so old, what did the economic model that preceded it look like?

In short, to better understand the contemporary challenges of the circular economy, a historical perspective is essential. We will first briefly recall the origin of the concept and its placement on the public agenda. We will then return to the history of so-called circular practices. This detour will allow us to highlight that the circular economy historically preceded the linear economy model, which only emerged at the end of the 19th Century and only became definitively established after World War II. However, this historical model of the circular economy, which we will call mode 1, has disappeared for reasons that we will explain and that remain valid. This historical detour will allow us to highlight the conditions of the new circular economy model, which we will call mode 2, to meet contemporary requirements, in terms of pollution traceability, ecological, economic and social sustainability. Finally, we will conclude with an analysis of the main obstacles to a circular transition.

1.2. From the origins of the reflections on the circular economy to its inclusion on the public agenda

The idea of circularity of material and energy flows is not new. It can be found as early as 1966 in Kenneth Boulding’s book, which advocates that men must find their place in an ecological cyclical system capable of a continuous reproduction of any material form. The very notion of circular economy first appeared in a book on environmental economics in 1989 (Pearce and Turner 1989).

However, it was not until the early 2010s that the concept became truly popular internationally, with the publication of several reports that would help to popularize the concept among decision-makers and the general public.

The notion was quickly seized by the public authorities. As early as 2016, the European Union adopted a circular economy package that has since been translated into an action plan for the circular economy. In France, the publication of an ADEME report in 2013, followed by the first conference on the circular economy in 2014, at the initiative of the Institut national de l’économie circulaire (INEC), which brought together more than 2,000 people in Paris, were the first markers of the future enthusiasm. In 2016, the Energy Transition Act made it one of the pillars of its action. Finally, in April 2018, the roadmap on the circular economy, which prefigures the draft law currently being debated in the National Assembly on the fight against waste and the circular economy, which echoes the circular economy package adopted by the European Parliament in December 2017, constitutes the last step in placing this concept on the public agenda.

1.2.1. The reasons for the enthusiasm

How can we explain the enthusiasm for this concept?

The first reason is the historical conditions under which the circular economy project is formulated. The end of the 2000s was a time of “crystallization”, to use Hannah Arendt’s (1988) formula. In Arendt’s analysis, crystallization refers to a time when heterogeneous and disconnected elements are suddenly linked together. Three concomitant events create an environment receptive to the idea of a circular economy: the first element was the boom in commodity prices, which quadrupled between 2000 and 2010 and reminded economic and political actors of their economic dependence on natural resources; the second element was the Chinese embargo on rare-earth elements, which are used in all high-tech applications and which is causing panic among economic and political actors; and the third element was the continued degradation of environmental indicators, which underlines the urgency of the ecological crisis.

Taking advantage of this favorable context, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), a new player in the circular economy, created in 2010, partnered with McKinsey to write a report in 2013 that made a big impact. This report proposes a pedagogical problematization of the circular economy, taking up the arguments of established approaches (industrial ecology, ecodesign, Cradle to Cradle, etc.) and integrating them into a coherent system associated with evocative visual schemes. But more importantly, the report highlights the potential of circular economy: not only could this new paradigm reduce environmental impacts by reducing the consumption of natural resources, and encourage reuse and recycling, but also new business models for repair, reuse or recycling could generate thousands of billions of dollars (EMF 13). Reducing the environmental footprint without sacrificing economic growth, by decoupling the latter’s consumption from resource and energy consumption, is the great promise that the concept covers and that immediately appeals to economic and political actors.

The second reason for the success of the concept is thus the pedagogical dimension of the proposed approach and the promise of a possible reconciliation of economic and environmental objectives.

The promoters of circular economy, such as the EMF, ADEME or INEC, have not only built the storytelling, putting linear economy and circular economy under tension. They have also sought to produce striking diagrams to visualize the concept of a circular economy. The most well-known educational scheme is that proposed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, also known as the “butterfly”, which describes different circular economy strategies based on loops of increasing compactness. To avoid landfilling, the most circular solution is to extend the life of products through maintenance and repair. Next come strategies to give the product a second life, such as reuse (for the same use), repurposing (for another application) and remanufacturing (renewing the product through remanufacturing). Functional economy, i.e. the intensification of the use of a product through the sale of associated services (e.g. rental), is another strategy. When none of these strategies are possible, recycling and finally energy recovery remain. From an economic point of view, the most solid strategies are those that retain the most economic value. However, they can cannibalize the sale of new products and therefore imply a change in business mode...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Foreword
• Introduction
• PART 1: The Circular Economy, Between Framework and Stakes
• PART 2: Circular Economy: A Few Tools and Approaches
• PART 3: Activity Sectors through thePrism of the Circular Economy
• Postface From Inebriety to Sobriety: Because Gê Is Worth It!
• List of Authors
• Index
• Other titles from ISTE in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management
• End User License Agreement