Interview with Circular Economy Club (CEC)

By Anna Tari, Circular Economy Club (CEC)

Anna Tari, Founder & CEO of the Circular Economy Club (CEC). CEC is the largest network of circular economy professionals worldwide with CEC Chapters in oever 260 countries. More information here.

1) What is the circular economy?

A circular economy is defined as an alternative to the current linear economy in which we take resources, produce, consume and generate waste. In a circular economy, systems and products are designed to eliminate the concept of waste, by enabling the recovery and reuse of all materials at the highest value possible at all times.

In a linear model, resources are extracted or mined, manufactured and produced, transported to the consumer to use and then disposed in the form of waste. An alternative system to tackle these environmental challenges is a “closed loop” or “circular economy” system. Unlike the current system of linear economy which is based on extract-produce-waste, the circular economy is a new model that suggests designing, making and using products and materials at the highest value possible at all times.

2) What would you say are the main barriers to this restorative industrial economic model?

The main obstacle, in my view, is the lack of markets for waste or used products and materials. Until we have a profitable market for trading waste of any kind (e.g., plastic waste), we will be unable to incentivize people and organizations to recover it. Both governments and companies play a crucial role. On the one hand, governments can incentivize the use of salvaged materials in production, as well as facilitate the infrastructure and logistics for adequate recovery and conversion of waste into valuable materials. On the other hand, more companies could start looking at how to valorize the current waste and generate new business models out of them. For example, the beer Toast Ale is made of bread that would have otherwise gone to landfill.

There are other challenges. One is the lack of capital used to scale pilot projects compared to the money injected in advancing non-circular activities. Another obstacle is the slowness with which regulation progresses. For example, when a product falls into the category “waste,” you cannot do much with it, apart from trying to recycle it. The waste concept must evolve so we can more easily recover it and value it. The final challenge is addressing the skepticism that people have of circularity’s value in the world. The take-make-waste system is not an easy concept to overcome because it’s what most of us know, but it must be done.

3) Can you give any examples of companies that are excelling at adopting the circular economy model? What lessons can we learn from them?

One example is Finish packaging startup RePack. RePack offers a solution to the problem of online delivery packages that end up in the trash. Imagine you are an online customer and you buy a mobile phone online. You receive the mobile and remove it from the packaging. With RePack, the packaging is pre-sealed, folded and left in the mailbox. RePack receives it and uses it again with another client, and so on. Among other effects, it reduces C02 emissions by 75% in comparison with conventional packaging.

Another example is a washing machine rental service provided by a Dutch company called Bundles. Typically, when a washing machine breaks down, it is cheaper to throw it away and buy a new one than to repair it. Bundles offer washing machines for rent that consumers have at home and pay for monthly, or per use. By maintaining the ownership of the washing machine, Bundles is interested in making it last as long as possible to rent it to as many customers as possible. For that reason, they design it so that it is easy to repair. Each machine component has a chip connected to a company control panel so that the company knows the efficiency of each of the separate pieces and the probability that the washing machine would need fixing. This is an example of how a change of business model (from selling to rent) can make the client and the company satisfied while the product lasts longer and no waste is generated.

Anna Tari has managed relations with governments, embassies, companies and nonprofits through her experience at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in London. Her background also includes working in the Communications Department of the United Nations Agency for tourism, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and consulting on various projects related to sustainable destinations - especially cities.