Our new CEO, Harald Friedl, and senior lecturer on the circular economy, Alexandre Lemille, joined us on Twitter for our monthly edition of #circlechat last Wednesday to share their vision for an inclusive circular economy and take questions from other participants. We compiled the main insights from our conversation here.
Jump to the full conversationThe argument for the circular economy has traditionally been an economic argument first and foremost: resource scarcity threatens a healthy bottom line, so reuse, remanufacturing, and refurbishment strategies provide a sound solution for mitigating our reliance on fraying natural capital. Because the circular economy can hardly be divorced from the benefits it brings our planet, the environmental argument for it has also steadily grown stronger as a result.
We explored this idea during our latest Twitter chat — Circle Economy’s monthly initiative to bring the circular economy community together online. Here are 5 guiding principles that came out of our conversation:
Whereas economic agents have been encouraged to limit or internalise negative externalities in the past, an inclusive circular economy focuses on creating positive social externalities at every step of the way. This means making social impact the driving force rather than the afterthought.
A3:That beyond embedding environmental and economic externalities we also embed social externalities using the Circular Thinking #CircleChat
— Alexandre Lemille (@AlexLemille) May 24, 2017
For example: governments can establish laws that support and enable social inclusion; businesses can involve and empower informal workers; industry leaders can ensure smaller players are accounted for across sectors; product developers can design for all abilities; consumers can signal a demand for fairer products; and entrepreneurs can adopt work-integration business models… The list goes on.[hr]
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Poverty, just like waste, is a human construct that needs to be designed out. Ensuring everyone’s physiological and safety needs are met is an important first step in the way of empowerment, as poverty and inequality often feed into each other. It is also an important step in bringing the circular economy discourse closer to emerging countries, where inequality gaps are often extreme and environmental incentives not necessarily appropriate.
A4: @AlexLemille's workis important as brings the #CE debate 2 emerging country context. Poverty 1 of human angles to discussion #circlechat
— harald friedl (@friedlh) May 24, 2017
A universal basic income, for example, could not only help eliminate poverty, but it could also offset the job losses involved in work automation. Finland, ever the social innovator, is already experimenting with the idea.
In order for the circular economy to be truly inclusive, it needs to — at least aim to — address all of the SDGs. Alexandre Lemille’s work on circular human flows puts humans at the heart of the circular economy’s biological and technical spheres, where people profit just as much from gaining access to vital resources as they do from nurturing their skills, knowledge, and education.
A4 If we think multidimensional poverty, and not only income and take into account all targets of #SDG1, then it is close. #circlechat
— Mairita Luse (@mairitaluse) May 24, 2017
There is definitely room for economic growth in an inclusive, circular economy, as it allows for the creation of additional jobs, but we do also need to shift perspectives, redefine the notion of growth, and develop new ways to assess it.
Good Point. discarding growth as evil makes no sense. Growth is a inherently "good" societal Frame. Redefine growth! #circlechat https://t.co/ggxtNrfoFx
— Justus Kammueller (@JustusKammuller) May 24, 2017
GDP, for example, has always been a poor reflection of a country’s prosperity; employment, similarly, fails to capture the larger picture; and while indicators like Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness are a step in the right direction, we still need tools to effectively measure and benchmark the circular economy in its multidimensionality.Few are currently available, but we’re working on it.
Technology in and of itself is not deterministic, and so it is up to us to put it to good use. Just as the circular economy draws on science to mimic natural systems in order to restore balance to both our industries and our planet, so too can it use technology to cast the inclusion net wide.
Agree. Tech isn't a silver bullet. But if used effectively can be a powerful enabler #circlechat
— Shyaam Ramkumar (@shyaamramkumar) May 24, 2017
Blockchain technology, for example, could be key in enabling inclusiveness as it provides increased transparency, decentralises power, and is already being used in ensuring fair supply chains.
Technology eg #blockchain, opens up avenues to #organize #collaboration and share #risks, and collectively manage infrastructure #circlechat
— Elisa Achterberg (@ElisaAchterberg) May 24, 2017
[hr]We need to design for all three dimensions from the onset. The circular economy is a systemic, long-term, and tangible approach to both doing business and doing good. The economic benefits it brings with it make it an appealing and sound concept to rally those in power around it, and it is environmentally beneficial by definition. Let’s make it socially inclusive by design.It’s not too much to tackle at once if we all collaborate.Look back on the full conversation here:
[<a href="//storify.com/circleeconomy/designing-inclusiveness-into-the-circular-economy" target="_blank">View the story "Designing inclusiveness into the circular economy" on Storify</a>]
Circle Economy’s official Twitter chat (#circlechat) is back for a second edition, May 24, at 6pm (GMT+2). Harald Friedl, Circle Economy’s new CEO, and Alexandre Lemille, “Circular Economy 2.0” advocate and senior lecturer on the circular economy, will be taking questions and sharing their vision on designing inclusiveness into the circular economy.
Before joining Circle Economy in 2017, Harald spent 5 years in Myanmar, during which he co-founded Impact Hub Myanmar, headed the market development for the world market leader of electromechanical hydropower projects in the country and co-founded Myanmar’s first pre-incubation programme for social enterprises. Prior to moving to Myanmar, he lived in New York where he worked as the Head of Office for the Assistant Secretary General and acted as the spokesperson for the Deputy Prime Minister of Finance in Austria.
Alex is the founder of Wizeimpact, a for-purpose thrivability consultancy that leverages business-as-a-powerful-tool to find solutions to our social and economic challenges. In 2016 Alex was recognised as Highly Commended in the Circular Economy Leadership category by the World Economic Forum. He co-founded the African Circular Economy Network with the aim of promoting a socially inclusive approach to Circular Economy for the African continent.
Denim is loved across ages, genders, countries and styles. It’s the undisputed champion of garments. In the past however, the denim industry has been a large consumer of water, insecticides, pesticides, and energy as well as uses harmful chemicals in the dying/finishing processes. Now, with the incorporation of circular economy principles, the denim industry can become the sustainable, circular leader to spearhead a textiles revolution.Starting on the 17th of April, Amsterdam turned blue for an entire week. The city hosted 'Denim Days', a series of industry events, trade shows, seminars and a denim festival centred around the ever-popular indigo blue fabric. Our own Jade Wilting (Project Coordinator Circle Textiles Programme) spoke at The Blue Print Festival, on the future of denim, and explored the question, is there a future for denim without circularity? We see that while the denim industry as a whole has yet to become circular, competitive companies are moving in the right direction, with some frontrunners already firmly rooting their business models in circularity. We've collected 3 key insights about this transition below:Insight #1: The skinny on skinny jeansFrom stretch denim to rigid & raw
"We are happy to see skinny jeans slowly making an exit from the wardrobes of the masses - if not for their unforgiving silhouette, then for their stretchiness, which is a major barrier when it comes to circularity"Jade Wilting, Project Coordinator Textiles Programme
While we don't condone quick changing trends that create obsolete fashion monthly, we can't help but get excited about a growing demand for mono-material jeans and raw denim. Raw denim is the godfather of all denim. It is unwashed and characterized by its rigid structure and deep blue colour. In contrast, most of the jeans that we buy have been through a series of industrial washings to soften and add aesthetic effects to the trousers. Raw denim aficionados swear off washing their trousers for at least the first 6 months after purchase to get a natural fade, custom-made by one's own wearing. As you might have guessed, raw denim jeans need much less water in the production process, and the culture around raw denim lends itself perfectly to circularity. It's all about retaining the value of the jeans for as long as possible through repair, re-wear and less washing. The movement toward non-stretch, rigid denim is a move in the right direction when it comes to circularity. Insight #2: Salvage the SelvedgeThe latest development in closed loop denim
"Denim to denim has long been the holy grail of high-value recycling. Not only is it a compelling story for the consumer, but recycled denim also has the potential to offset the huge water impact that denim has, reutilise the indigo dye trapped in the material and reduce our dependency on virgin cotton."Gwen Cunningham, Programme Lead, Circle Textiles Programme
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MUD Jeans[/caption]Our hope for the future is for textiles to be consistently made, used, collected and reintroduced into the supply chain as raw material. In order to reach this goal, denim can’t be thrown away once it is deemed unfit to rewear. From a recyclers point of view, denim is an ideal material feedstock, as it's fairly consistent in colour (indigo blue), fibre composition (chiefly cotton) and construction (zippers and buttons are consistently on the top third of the garment, which makes cleaning more efficient).More recently, MUD Jeans and Recover, collaborated to turn old MUD jeans into new MUD jeans. They have pushed innovation to new heights by working to increase the percentage of recycled cotton that can be used to 40%. Previous research conducted by Circle Economy and G-Star showed that by including 12% recycled content in a pair of jeans, water usage decreased by 9.8%, energy consumption by 4.2% and the CO2 footprint by 3.8%. Just imagine what the impact would be with 40%, or even more, recycled content! Meanwhile, upcoming chemical recyclers are also experimenting with closed loop denim. Levi Strauss and Evrnu, a start-up chemical recycling technology company, have collaborated to turn post-consumer cotton waste into new denim. Using Evrnu's unique chemical process, cotton fibres are dissolved and reconstituted, before being spun into new yarn and made into new fabric. Insight #3: Cleaning up our actThe new production methods that improve impact Denim uses a ton of water in its lifecycle. According to Levi Strauss, 3,781 liters of water are used during the production and use phase of one pair of 501® jeans and 33.4 kg of CO2 is created throughout its lifetime. This includes growing cotton, processing the denim and washing at home. Minimizing these impacts requires producers to improve technology and consumers to think about how they care for their denim. MADE-BY created a wet processing benchmark that details the impacts from commonly used processing techniques and brings understanding and awareness to the impacts of this step in textile production. Stemming from the insights companies such as Jeanologia, a partner of MUD Jeans, have developed an Ozone technology that can be used in place of water intensive stone washing, drastically reducing the water, energy, and chemical usage in the processing phase of jean production. The result is worn or faded looks without the negative environmental or health impacts. Consistent colouration of recycled denim can be difficult to achieve and requires additional energy and water. Australian researchers have created a way to make denim-dyed denim, with help from the H&M Foundation to scale and commercialize this technology to use recycled denim as a dye source.
Wondering what you can do as a consumer? We’ve got you covered!
The denim industry has come a long way. Technological advancements continue to decrease its impact, but the next steps require the industry to adopt a more circular model. It is important to remember that true circularity requires thinking beyond decreasing the impact and considering how design, repairability, and recycling can play a role in circularity.
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Industry collaboration is key in catalyzing and implementing systemic change. Circle Economy, together with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, House of Denim and MADE-BY are fostering collaboration through the Alliance for Responsible Denim, an initiative that brings denim brands together to collectively take steps towards improving the ecological sustainability impact of denim production.
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Though Harald is still getting used to the Netherlands’ unpredictable weather, his vision for the circular economy, commitment to scaling positive impact, and knack for mobilising the people around him have already made significant strides in renewing Circle Economy’s sense of purpose and in shaping up our future as an organization.
Harald has a keen focus on the social aspects of the circular economy, and we believe his experience working with governments and businesses around the world will support Circle Economy in its efforts to scale and internationalise. The sky’s the limit! — Robert Jan van Ogtrop, Founder of Circle Economy
Harald has spent the past five years fostering social entrepreneurship and bottom-up change in Myanmar, where he co-founded Impact Hub Myanmar. Always keen on making the most of his time and energy, Harald also co-founded the country’s first pre-incubation programme for social enterprises and headed market development for the market leader in electromechanical hydropower projects while he was there. Previously trained as a journalist, he has also served as the spokesperson for Austria’s Deputy Prime Minister of Finance and lived in New York during his time as the Head of Office for the Assistant Secretary General.Harald’s experience spans disciplines, sectors, and continents, and makes him a great fit for Circle Economy’s multi-disciplinary, cross-sector, international approach and community.To learn more about Harald’s vision for the circular economy and how society can play a role in fueling the transition, join us on Twitter for our next #circlechat, May 24th, 6pm (GMT+2). Not sure what #circlechat is? Check out our FAQ and highlights from our last chat for more information!
[<a href="//storify.com/circleeconomy/the-circular-economy-where-to-start" target="_blank">View the story "#circlechat: exploring the circularity spectrum" on Storify</a>]
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Circle Economy is launching their new Circle Design Program today. Part of a broader movement to accelerate the transition to the circular economy, the Circle Design Program aims to introduce businesses, designers, and entrepreneurs to circular design thinking and through a collaborative, on-the-ground approach, work with them to develop practical solutions to complex circular challenges.Circular design thinking is central to the transition to a circular economy.Although waste-reducing initiatives and other recycling efforts are still necessary in order to cope with the materials currently in use in linear supply chains, they are also ineffective and do not constitute a viable option in the long run. Resources can better be maintained and retrieved when products and components have been designed for disassembly, reuse, or remanufacture, for example — i.e. when they have been designed according to circular design principles. The need for retrieval is also mitigated when business models anticipate the pre-use, use, and post-use phases of their products.This is why it is critical for current businesses and the next generation of entrepreneurs, designers, and consumers to learn and adopt circular design thinking. It provides room for new perspectives, from future-proof, innovative business models, to regenerative products, services, and systems, where waste is minimised and loops are closed.Leveraging the versatility of circular design thinkingCircular design thinking isn’t exactly new. Design for disassembly, for example, is widely recognized for its direct relevance to the manufacturing industry and the benefits it provides when products are designed with ease of repair, upgradability, optimal reuse and high value recycling in mind. These benefits, however, are not exclusive to the manufacturing industry. Circular design thinking is relevant across industries and sectors and its versatility provides opportunities to any business aiming at future-proofing its activities. Understandably, it has been gaining a lot of traction.[hr]
Join our upcoming Business Innovation or our Circle Design workshops.
[hr]Circle Economy aims to introduce a wide range of industries and sectors to the advantages of circular design thinking. One of the first steps to achieving this was a recent collaboration with Dutch government-funded program Nederland Circulair! and our partners MVO Nederland, which allowed us to tackle the challenge of designing circular climate systems.Climate systems typically provide heating, cooling, and ventilation in buildings, and are traditionally not designed with disassembly, repairability, or modularity in mind. This often results in costly practices like the replacement of complete systems when only specific elements are broken. Circle Economy’s collaborative workshop approach allowed to uncover five circular design strategies that are not only applicable to the entire sector but also have the support of key sector agents to be implemented in the future.
Implementing circular design strategies in the circular economyClear, circular design strategies pave the way for and empower producers, suppliers, and designers to easily employ and apply them. Trade associations can leverage the ability these strategies have to nudge members and stakeholders along the circular economy track. Buyers, consultants, governments and clients can make informed decisions in order for their industry to benefit from circular design thinking. Industry associations (like the VLA, in the case of climate systems) and other parties in charge of developing industry standards and norms can adopt these strategies in order to set guidelines for designers and engineers to follow as part of product development standards. If circular design thinking is adapted in this sense, it has vast potential to enable positive change.Do you or your organization want to be one of the pioneers that get circular design thinking out of theory and into practice? Join one of our workshops.
Impact investing has become a hot topic in the financial world, and understandably so.Clients are increasingly asking investors to not only focus on financial returns but to also consider environmental and social criteria when developing their portfolios. As a result, sustainable investing has been soaring, and nearly 26% of worldwide assets with a value of 22 trillion USD are now sustainable (an increase of 25% from 2014 to 2016).Impact investments can also yield greater financial returns. According to a 2014 study by the Carbon Disclosure Project, S&P 500 industry leaders that have a strong focus on mitigating climate change have a return-on-equity 18% higher and are 50% less volatile than those that don't.
The majority of investors are now using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) screening criteria to exclude investments with negative impact. A growing percentage, however, are taking an impact investing approach — targeting for-profit social enterprises, for example.Regardless of the strategy they follow, many note that they still struggle to identify potential investments that can deliver strong financial returns and create positive environmental and social impact.
The circular economy aims to achieve inclusive economic, social and environmental prosperity within the boundaries of our planet, by making efficient use of our resources. The concept is well aligned with the goals and intentions of impact investing. By applying elements of the circular economy to their evaluation criteria, investors can identify high-impact investment opportunities, improve the value of their portfolios, and minimise their exposure to the risks of linear business practices.To help investors evaluate their investments against the elements of the circular economy, Circle Economy’s Finance Program has developed a comprehensive suite of services that provide practical solutions for investors throughout the investment cycle. From lead generation to due diligence, our tools and services help investors identify promising investments that meet their financial and non-financial impact targets. After an acquisition, we help investors initiate change in the first 100 days and grow companies in the longer-term. We do this by working closely with investors and portfolio companies to identify actionable and value-generating strategies and interventions.Are you an investor looking for new investment opportunities that can create positive impact and deliver financial returns? Or are you hoping to transform your portfolio to create long-term value and impact?Find out more about our services for investors by downloading our investor brochure.
The term 'closing the loop' continues to gain traction, from boardrooms to classrooms to living rooms. While the words are on everyone's lips, we may well ask why we have not seen a significant impact on business as usual. Why has the shift from a linear to a circular model been so fragmented, thus far?The truth is, while the bigger 'why' of a circular textiles industry is now well established, the 'how' is still unclear to many. In recent years, there has been a palpable increase in the industry's focus on improving the 1) collection and 2) recycling of post-consumer textiles. This work is spread across individual closed loop projects, and while they are achieving good results, these separate efforts can only amount to incremental change. The truth is, the industry currently lacks the broad foundation needed to close the loop for textiles. Without connecting the work, greater infrastructural bottlenecks will remain largely untouched. A systemic transition is necessary, and this will take collaboration across the entire textiles industry. Post-consumer textile collection is step one, but then what?The amount of textiles being produced and disposed of in inefficient ways is much higher than the amount that is collected and recycled. Recyclers throughout Europe indicate that only around 0.1% of all collected post-consumer textiles undergo high-value recycling. This means they are not regenerated into yarns, fabrics or garments but are downcycled into things like insulation - this is what's happening to the vast majority of non-rewearable textiles, when they even make it to the recycling process in the first place. The aim of a circular textiles industry is to keep materials and products functioning at their highest potential for as long as possible. Downcycling should be a last resort. Recent efforts of collecting and reverse logistics is one step in the right direction but not a complete solution. H&M came under fire from international press last year, with the leading accusation being that it would take the company 12 years to use recycled fibres from the 1,000 tonnes of used garments they aimed to collect during World Recycle Week. It is reported that in the past few years they have collected 13,600 tonnes of garments from consumers. This has led to a hard look at the industry today: If brands collect large volumes of post consumer garments that are mostly being downcycled, are they really doing the right thing?Pressure has been put on companies and governments to sign agreements to improve their garment collection and recycling efforts. This initiative is good, but it is only part of the solution. H&M is off to a good start, and the world should take note, but the industry must now address the steps after collection. The textile industry needs a solution for more efficient sorting of post-consumer textiles, and high value recycling technologies need a consistent and high-quality input for their processes. Until now there have been few options when it comes to supporting high-value recycling. We have actually been collecting more textiles than can be recycled into a high-value stream. The Fibersort, a technology that enables enable large volumes of post consumer textile sorting, is an exciting opportunity for the textile industry to get involved with and address this gap. It will lead to a tipping point for the high-value textile recycling industry and is a necessary part of the global infrastructure for a closed loop industry.So how is Fibersort part of the solution?An increase of low-quality fast fashion means the portion of rewearable post consumer garments is decreasing while the non-rewearable portion is on the rise. We need to support technologies that can tackle the growing fraction of non-rewearable textiles, and ensure that these precious resources make it back into the supply chain, at their highest value. The Fibersort is a technology that automatically sorts large volumes of finished textile products by fiber composition. This allows them to be recycled into new, high-quality textiles. Because most current and upcoming high-value recycling technologies require fibres of the same content to be recycled together, content purity is a major barrier - or is it an opportunity? Fibersort offers quality assured feedstock to recyclers. Essentially, there will be more control over what goes into the recycling process which means the quality of the output is greatly increased.
We have the technology and you have the perspective. Real change in our industry requires collaboration from us all! Are you a brand, retailer, manufacturer, textile collector, sorter, recycler or anything in-between? Do you want to be a part of something bigger that promotes the circular economy? There is a great need to address this current gap in high value textile recycling. Your feedback and ideas can help drive this innovation and bring change to our industry. Sign up to stay updated and informed of opportunities to provide your feedback on the development of Fibersort.
I want to be part of this change!
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On Thursday September 15th, the FIBERSORT project was announced as one of the few projects that will be funded by the INTERREG NWE programme for the next three years. With the support of INTERREG in the form of EUR 2 million, the consortium will further optimise the machine and demonstrate and validate this pioneering technology in the market. The project partners will add an additional EUR 1.5 million in funding to the project. Contact jade@circle-economy.com for more information about the Fibersort project.
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