What is the circular economy? How do I design for it?
At the rate humans are using ecological resources, we would need 1.7 earths to achieve sustainability [1]. The major problem here is that we only have one earth. The circular economy aims to reduce the need for the extraction of new resources.
What is the circular economy?
The circular economy is a strategy to reduce the need for extracting new raw materials from the earth and help mitigate climate change by reducing the energy needed for producing products. Its ultimate goal is to eliminate waste. The life of a product generally follows a linear path: 1) it begins as a raw material, 2) that material is processed during manufacturing, 3) the product is distributed, 4) it is used by the end user, and 5) at the end of its life it is disposed of, usually going to a landfill. The circular economy is trying to convert that linear path from raw materials to waste to a circular one by giving materials another life, see Figure 1.
Figure 1: The Circular Economy
Keeping materials in the cycle and out of landfills can be done in a number of ways. Products can also be kept in the cycle by making durable products that have a longer lifespan.
How to Design For the Circular Economy
Recycling
This is probably the strategy that is most familiar to people. Recycling is also one of the most energy intensive processes in this list because you are breaking down a product all the way back to raw materials. To ensure your design is recyclable, make material choices that are recycling friendly. This includes not only choosing the right material, but also how it is processed and assembled. For instance, look at a bottle of Sprite. You are likely to see a green bottle, and may think that it should be recyclable. The green bottle actually makes it less likely to be recycled. Because of this, Sprite is now transitioning to clear bottles. Different materials in a product also need to be able to be separated to be recycled. Try to avoid assembly methods that cannot be disassembled.
Reuse
This is another familiar item for people. It involves finding ways to continue to use a product. It might be that you are transitioning away from single use items, or making your product last long enough to be passed on to a second (or third) owner.
Refurbish
You will commonly see refurbished electronics. The refurbishing process generally involves taking a product that failed for some reason and replacing or repairing failed components. The product may still have cosmetic blemishes but will likely function like new. In order to design for being able to be refurbished, design your product so that it will be easy to service and replace parts.
Remanufacture
The remanufacturing process is similar to refurbishing, but it is generally more involved. A remanufactured product will look and function like a new product, while a refurbished product may not look exactly as a new product. The remanufactured product takes significantly less resources than creating a new product from virgin materials. Again, design your product so it can be repaired.
Reparability
By designing your products with the ability to be repaired, they can be used for longer. While this is similar to refurbishing or remanufacturing the goal here is not to sell the product to a new user, but to keep the current user using the product longer. This will involve more than simply making it easy to disassemble. It also includes supporting reparability by making parts and repair instructions available.
Redefine the System
A product exists within a large system, with many different factors such as the distribution, business model, ownership, etc. It may be that to improve the circularity of a product you will redefine something in that system that is not directly related to the product itself. For instance, you may switch from owning products to a rental model to keep the product from being thrown away.
Case Study: Gerrard Street Headphones
You probably have a few pairs of headphones, and it’s likely you have had a pair of headphones break due to a bad cable connection. Gerrard Street has a slightly different approach - they aim to be the last pair of headphones you will ever need [2]. They have done a few things to improve the circularity of their product.
They made the product repairable. The design of the headphones is such that if a part breaks it can be easily replaced, and they will send you the parts for free.
The headphones use a modular design so all the headphones in the product line share many of the same parts.
You can own the headphones or lease them so that in the event that you want a new model you can trade it in, with the components from the old pair being reused.
By considering how design choices will fit within the circular economy you can benefit the environment and produce added value for your company at the same time. It does take creativity to rethink the traditional production system of a product, but it is an important step towards sustainability.
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