WHAT IS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

Today’s throwaway society is the result of a linear economic system. Many raw materials are extracted and products are made, used and disposed. This leads to a raw material shortage, large volumes of waste and the resultant environmental problems.

CONSUMPTION INCINERATION & LANDFILL BENEFICIAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? PERFORM A LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT A life-cycle assessment is the only way to ensure that projects or measures in the circular economy actually help to reduce the environmental impact. A life-cycle assessment includes all the relevant environmental effects over the full life-cycle of products. CHARACTERISTICS OF CYCLABLE PRODUCTION - ECODESIGN • Durable, repairable, modular design and products which can be dismantled • No chemicals hazardous to the environment and health • Separable, safe, recyclable materials

The circular economy aims to solve the problems of the throwaway society. Instead of products being thrown away after use (graphic above), cycles are created by sharing, reusing, repairing, remanufacturing, refurbishing and recycling (green arrows in the right-hand graphic). In a circular economy, products, materials and resources are used or reused for as long as possible and their value is retained. Fewer primary raw materials are consumed and less waste is generated than in the linear economic system.

The circular economy is an integrated approach which considers the cycle as a whole from raw material extraction, through design, production, distribution and a use phase which is as long as possible, through to recycling. So that products and materials remain

Non-renewable resources

Renewable resources ROHSTOFFAUFBEREITUNG RAW MATERIAL PROCESSING

Natural c ycl es RECYCLING & SAMMLUNG RECYCLING & COLLECTIONComposting & anaerobic digestion

Incineration & landfill

The circular economy

DESIGN & PRODUKTION DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Wie deraufbereiten Remanufacture, refurbish

Reparieren Wiederverwenden Repair Reuse

Teilen Share

KONSUM & NUTZUNG CONSUMPTION & USE D I S T R I B U T I ON D I S T R I B U T I ON

WHAT IS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

The circular economy is an economic system of production, trade and consumption that, from the design of a product through to its end of life, is designed to optimise the use of resources and reduce the impact of economic activity on the environment. Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the circular economy. It is not exhaustive, but illustrates the basic principle: the circularity of resources and the extension of the use phase. The circular economy offers a set of strategies and business models designed to limit the consumption and wastage of raw materials, water and energy (see page 10). This innovative system represents a paradigm shift that accommodates the concept of sustainable development and offers an alternative to the current – linear – economic system.

 Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the circular economy. In this paper, the term 'business model' refers to all of the steps shown in the outer circle and the term 'strategies' refers to the steps shown by the inner arrows. Source: Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)