Circular economy
May/June 2020
END OF LIGHT ISSUE What is the circular economy and why is it important? John Bullock explains he typical way that we think about the things we use assumes that we keep something for as long it's helpful to us, after which we throw it away. How it gets thrown away rarely enters the consciousness of the user/disposer. What that has meant across the generations is that we have continued to extract materials from the planet rather than consider what happens when those materials run out. The circular economy takes a wider view. Just because one person has finished with a product does not mean
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that there is no value left in it. When we’ve ‘finished with’ a motor car, we understand that there could be a lot of residual worth left in it and, rather than scrap it, we sell it on at a lower cost. That is the beginning of the circular economy process... though nowhere near the end of it.
As products age, some components wear out and need to be replaced, and if there’s one aspect of the circular economy that has already had an influence on product design it’s the idea that goods should be repairable. As long as the product in its entirety can continue to be of service, it will have a useful life. It's what happens at the very end of active life where the true circular economy can be seen. The climate crisis has brought materials exploitation into sharp relief. The growth of the recycling industry as an answer to repurposing spent materials was
‘The climate crisis has brought materials exploitation into sharp relief’
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