Circular Economy For Dummies

Kyle J. Ritchie is the Education Sustainable Design Lead at Cannon Design in Chicago and an Adjunct Professor at the Boston Architectural College.Eric Corey Freed is an award-winning architect, 12-time author, and global speaker. He is a sought-after lecturer who has educated over 250,000 people on sustainability and high-performance building.

• Introduction 1About This Book 2Foolish Assumptions 3Icons Used in This Book 4How This Book Is Organized 4Part 1: Linear Is Out, Circular Is In: An Economic Revolution 4Part 2: Rethinking Business for a Circular Economy 5Part 3: Rethinking Material Lifecycles — The Circular Perspective 5Part 4: Redesigning the Future to Be Circular 5Part 5: Creating a Circular Economy for All 6Part 6: The Part of Tens 6Beyond the Book 6Where to Go from Here 7Part 1: Linear Is Out, Circular Is In: An Economic Revolution 9Chapter 1: Rejecting Waste, Rethinking Materials, and Redesigning the World 11Rejecting the Idea of Waste 12Waste as a driver of the economy 13Waste as a resource 13Rethinking Material Lifecycles 16Take, make, and waste 17Making technical materials circular 17Making biological materials circular 18Upcycling versus downcycling 19Redesigning the Future to Be Circular 19Food production 20Circular businesses, products, and clothing 20A circular economy for all 22Chapter 2: What’s Wrong with Being Linear, Anyway? 23We’re Taking the Wrong Stuff 25We’re not importing this stuff from space 27Everyone keeps having kids 28We don’t have as much as we thought 30It all revolves around oil 31We’re Making the Wrong Stuff 31You’re buying trash 32Even kids can build with blocks 33Trying to recycle the unrecyclable 33We’re using materials that are bad for us 34We’re Wasting the Wrong Stuff 34It all comes at a big cost 34We’re running out of room 35It’s expensive to throw things away 35The debt collector is knocking at the door 35Change Is Really Hard, We Know 36If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 36Taking risks 37Chapter 3: A Growing Demand for a Circular Economy 41The Drive to Make Money 44Redefining risk and liability 44Innovating to attract new customers 46The Drive to Be Healthier 46Lifestyles that foster health and sustainability 46Wellness as a priority 47The Drive to Be in Compliance 47Environmental, social, and corporate governance 48Corporate social responsibility (CSR) 49Climate and shareholders 50A Larger Drive Toward Deep Sustainability 50This has been brewing for a while 51Precedents 51Looking to the future 54Chapter 4: From Linear To Circular: What You Need To Know 57So Much Chaos: Understanding Entropy 58Externalized costs 59Linear versus circular: A hilarious-yet-depressing comparison 60Borrow from nature, not from the future 64Waste = Food: Redefining Disposal 66All materials have another use 68Product stewardship 69Building Resilience Through Diversity: Redefining Strength 71Responding to disruption 72Takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’ 73Durability and reparability policies 74Part 2: Rethinking Business For a Circular Economy 77Chapter 5: Identifying Your Business Opportunities 79Exploring the Benefits of Going Circular 79Exploiting the profit opportunities 80Reducing volatility and ensuring greater supply chain security 81Managing the new demand for business services 81Improving customer interaction and loyalty 83Rethinking the Business Model 85Building new types of capital 86Rethinking money as the only medium of exchange 87Reflecting the true cost of products 87Embracing diversity 89Rethinking your supply chain 89Designing for the future 90Examining Business from a Global Perspective 91Chapter 6: Rethinking the Conventional Business Model 95Rethinking How We Look at Cost 98The hidden cost of procurement 100The hidden impact of transportation 104The hidden burden of inventory 104The hidden secrets of quality 105Maximizing Your Value Proposition to Customers 105Becoming a mission-driven company 106Safeguarding your workers 107Greenwashing 107Turning Obstacles into Opportunities 108Listening to customers 109Creating unspoken demand 110Rethinking old assumptions 110Bending linear into loops 111Thinking of businesses as a system 112Chapter 7: Exploring the Essentials of a Circular Business Model 113The Six Rs: Your New Circularity Mantra 114Refuse: Say no to what you don’t need 114Reduce: Use less for longer 115Reuse and remanufacture: Extend product life 116Repurpose: Find other uses 116Recycle: Return materials for rebirth 116Rot: Return it to the soil 117Developing a Circular Business Structure: The Bones of the Operation 117Identifying potential material loops 118Considering innovative business models 118Who’s at the table? Engaging your stakeholders 120Developing a message 121Benchmarking and improvement 122Chapter 8: ’Round and ’Round: Making Your Products Circular 127Managing Material Lifecycle Performance 128Designing products for reuse 129Designing products to be remanufactured 130Designing products for recycling 130Making Your Product Lifecycle Smarter 131Creating effective and serviceable products 132Being flexible 132Seeking collaborators and partners 133How It All Comes Together 134Everything is circular first 134Everything is transparent 135Chapter 9: From Trash to Treasure: Converting Waste into Products 139Seeing Why the Circular Economy Is All About Retaining Value 140Stop Being Linear: It’s a Waste of Time 144Why Buy Waste When You Can Sell It? 145Selling your old stuff 147Starting your own business 149Troubleshooting a Wasteful Product Lifecycle 152Where the wild things are 153Signed, sealed, delivered 153Waste not, want not 154Being a sustainable shopper 154Finding value in the ugly 155Part 3: Rethinking Material Lifecycles: The Circular Perspective 163Chapter 10: Understanding the Circular Material Lifecycle 165Viewing the Entire Spectrum of Environmental Impact 166Defining degenerative lifecycles 167Defining sustainable lifecycles 167Defining regenerative lifecycles 168Understanding the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Butterfly Diagram 169Examining the circular economy’s structure: The bones of the operation 169Renewables flow management: Harnessing biological cycles 171Stock management: Optimizing technical cycles 172Promoting environmental restoration: Investing now to obtain even more later 175Chapter 11: Analyzing Material Lifecycle Processes 179Looking at Material Processes 181Fostering transparency 183Instituting chemical management 183Rewarding innovation 184The Lifecycle Principles: Identifying Where Change Can Happen 184Preserving natural capital 185Enhancing the usefulness of products, components, and raw materials 186Developing effective systems that minimize negative externalities 187Looking at Opportunities for Optimization 187Refusing the new: Reusing the old 188Employing the remaining factor: Remanufacturing 189Biochemical extraction for the win 190Chapter 12: Improving the Material Lifecycle 195Improving How Material Lifecycles Function 196Looking at Materials in a New Way 198Getting to know your lifecycle 199Refuse before you reduce, reuse, and recycle 200Examining Operations in a New Way 201Looking at human capital 201You can be everywhere 201Connecting Sourcing, Suppliers, and Customers 202Chapter 13: It All Comes Down to Selecting the Right Materials 207The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Exploring Materials 208Oil or Plastics — They’re Really Much the Same Thing 208What’s Harder than Rock? Metals 212Paper Products and Cardboard 214Through the Looking Glass 217And Everything In-Between 218Identifying Hazardous Materials 219Red list materials 220Red list material alternatives 221Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) 221Sourcing, Ethics, and Standards 222Understanding strategic sourcing 222Establishing ethics 223Exploring certifications and standards 223Chapter 14: Circular Materials, Products, and Packaging 227Redesigning Materials and Products: The Transition from Linear to Circular 228“Less bad” does not equal “good” 228Planning for material reincarnation 230How To Keep Materials In Use Forever 231Why things break 232From planned obsolescence to planned permanence 232Shipping Global versus Producing Local 234Building a regional economy: A shipping substitute 235You’ve got to be shipping me 238Permanent packaging 239Part 4: Redesigning the Future to Be Circular 245Chapter 15: The Circular Economy of Food Production 247Examining the Two Ways of Producing Food 248Investigating the Hidden Costs of Agriculture 249Food waste: Expending money, time, and resources unnecessarily 250Environmental degeneration: Damaging the planet with increasing speed 252Permaculture to the Rescue 252Following nature’s lead: Permaculture design principles 253Taking a look at permaculture management zones 256Chapter 16: Circularity for Design 259Redesigning Design 260Understanding circular design 260Designing out waste 263Keeping products and materials in use 264Regenerating natural systems 264Recognizing the Problems Designers Face 265We’re being overtaken by trash 265We’re running out of materials 265We’re choking on carbon 266Creating a Framework for Circular Design 267Applying the ReSOLVE framework to buildings 268Layers of useful life 269Putting the pieces together 271Chapter 17: Circular Economy for Builders, Makers, and Manufacturers 275Assessing a Building’s Lifecycle 276Defining construction and demolition debris 276Gauging the economic opportunities of C&D waste 277Measuring C&D waste impact 277Defining lifecycle impacts 279Identifying human health hazards and promoting transparency 280People, planet and profit 280Selecting Appropriate Building Products 283Sourcing responsibly 284Something stinks 285We All Embody Carbon 287The human’s relationship to carbon 288The building’s relationship to carbon 290Operational carbon 290Embodied carbon 291Carbon influences on building design 293Straight from the Open Source 294Recognizing the benefit 294Looking at open source in action 295Chapter 18: The Circular Economy for Fashion and Clothing 297Sewing Together the Issue: Where Fashion Is and Where It’s Headed 298Fashion = Waste + Pollution 299The current trajectory to catastrophe 302Making It Circular: A Future Forecast for Fashion 303The Phase Out phase 304Redesigning how clothes are used 305Optimizing collection and recycling 306Relying on renewable resources 307Comparing Common Fashion Fabrics 310Plastic 311Plants 313Animals 314Part 5: Creating A Circular Economy For All 317Chapter 19: Understanding an Individual’s Circular Opportunities 319Looking at the Food You Eat 320Sourcing 320Managing food waste 321Sizing Up the Products You Buy 327Recycling: The last resort 327Selecting products with reuse potential 328Evaluating the House You Live In 328Considering lifecycle costs 329Building better 329Thinking About the Way You Commute 331Be car-less for once 331Choose more efficient options 332Revisiting the Way You Work 332Promoting telecommuting and teleconferencing 332Managing office supplies 333Chapter 20: Creating a Career in the Circular Economy 335Looking at the Future of Jobs 336Jobs that are central to the circular economy 338Jobs that are enabling the circular economy 338Jobs that are indirectly related to the circular economy 339Skills required for a circular economy 341Where to Go for More Education 341Earning certifications 341Earning degrees and diplomas 342Chapter 21: A Global Vision of a Circular Economy 345Seeing What a Circular Community Looks Like 346Sourcing community resources and aid 347Looking at food management 348Eyeing transportation 349Seeing What a Circular University Looks Like 350Learning from living laboratories 351Insisting on data visibility 352Seeing What a Circular Restaurant and Brewery Look Like 353Fostering effective and efficient sourcing and prep 354Revising service standards 355Viewing waste as a resource 356Part 6: The Part of Tens 359Chapter 22: Ten Questions to Ask About Your Material Lifecycle 361Where Did This Material Come From? 362What Are the By-Products of Harvesting This Material? 362What Are the By-Products of Manufacturing This Material? 362How Is the Material Delivered? 363How Is the Material Installed? 364How Is the Material Maintained, Powered, or Operated? 364How Healthy Are the Materials? 364What Can We Do with These Materials After We’re Done with Them? 365What Can Be Done to Extend, Prolong, or Maintain the Material? 366What Can We Do to Encourage the Reuse, Refurbishment, Redistribution, or Remanufacture of the Material? 366Chapter 23: Ten Questions to Foster Innovative Thinking 367How Can We Make This Product Redundant? 368How Can We Rethink How This Product Is Used? 369How Can We Reduce the Resources or Materials Used? 369In What Ways Can This Product Be Reused by Another Consumer? 369In What Ways Can This Product Be More Easily Maintained and Repaired? 370In What Ways Can This Product Be Restored or Kept Up-to-Date? 370How Can Discarded Parts Be Remade into a New Version of the Same Product? 370How Can Discarded Parts Be Remade Into a New Product? 371In What Ways Can We Recycle These Materials into Quality Products? 371How Can We Dispose of This Material in a Manner That Recovers Energy? 371Chapter 24: Ten Questions to Ask about Your Supply Chain 373What Drives Your Product Design? 374What Are Your Users’ Needs? 374Will Your Customers Access or Will They Own Your Product? 375Who Are Your Partners? 376What Materials Are Required? 377How Will You Produce Your Product? 377How Will Users Receive Your Product? 378How Will You Support the Repair and Maintenance of Your Product? 379What Refurbishment Options Will You Offer for Your Product? 379How Will You Reclaim Your Product at Its End of Life? 380Chapter 25: Ten Questions That Reveal How Much Your Waste Is Costing You 381What Labor Costs Are Tied to Waste Disposal? 382What Is the Real Cost of Waste Disposal? 382What Is the Impact on Human Health? 383How Does Waste Impact Ecosystem Services? 383What Is the Innate Value of Waste? 384How Much Raw Material Is Required to Offset Waste? 385What Are the Indirect Costs of Waste? 385How Much Does Poor Efficiency Cost? 386What Natural Resources Are Required for Waste? 386What Waste Remediation Will Be Required? 387Index 389