Quoted from: Figge, Frank, et al. “Does the circular economy fuel the throwaway society? The role of opportunity costs for products that lose value over time.” Journal of Cleaner Production (2022): 133207. Image: Horse Power by Stuart Taylor. Credit: JulieMay54 – CC BY-SA 4.0.

Extending the lifetime of products and using resources circularly are two popular strategies to increase the efficiency of resource use. Both strategies are usually assumed to contribute to the eco-efficiency of resource use independently… We find that in a perfectly circular economy, consumers are incentivized to discard their products more quickly than in a perfectly linear economy. A direct consequence of our finding is that extending product use is in direct conflict with closing resource loops in the circular economy… The article highlights the risk that closing resource loops and moving to a more circular economy incentivizes more unsustainable behavior.

This is the first paper to show the link between circular economy and economic obsolescence in an integrated model. Existing research usually considers a longer duration of resource use to be “more” sustainable and thus to be more desirable. We show that a more circular use of resources is negatively related to a longer use of resources. Put differently, this is the first paper to show that a circular use of resources, which is desirable, incentivizes a shorter use of resources, which is undesirable. Policies that aim to optimize both factors in isolation risk being counterproductive: Policies that extend the duration of resource use risk impeding the circular use of resources, and policies that close resource loops risk shortening the duration of resource use.

The circular economy creates a symbiotic relationship between different resource users. As in any symbiotic relationship, the actions of one entity impact other entities. We argue that the more circular resource flows are, the higher the degree of symbiosis between resource users and the more important are the opportunity costs created. A symbiotic relationship between resource users and the opportunity costs this creates also complicate the analysis of decisions of individual resource users. In a perfectly linear economy, the decisions of resource users can be analyzed in isolation. A more efficient resource use on the individual level will always result in a more efficient use of resources on the macro-level. In a perfectly circular economy, however, decisions are impacted by the decisions of other resource users and the decision-making of resource users cannot be analyzed in isolation.

[If] no more virgin resources can be used for production, the relationship between companies and consumers changes. The products that are disposed of by consumers become the source for the provision of natural resources that companies require. Rather than being separate from each other, companies remain the provider of goods, but consumers become the provider of resources for companies by making the resources contained in the products they dispose of available to companies… Using a product for longer means depriving companies of resources for longer… As long as a consumer continues using a product, the resources contained in that product cannot create value somewhere else. Companies, eager to have access to resources, suddenly do not only have an interest in consumers replacing existing products because it allows them to increase their sales but also because it gives them access to the resources they require.

Another negative effect of the shorter use of products is that reusing and recycling but also the more frequent production and distribution of products requires additional resources. Put differently, recycling and reusing products and resources comes at an environmental cost. We do not explicitly consider these costs in our model. However, it is safe to assume that a higher speed of the production–consumption circle will, all other things being equal, also increase the resources needed to keep the circular economy going. This adds to the pressure that a more circular use of resources could exert on the environment unless the resources needed are themselves used circularly, or they are renewable resources.

Figge, Frank, et al. “Does the circular economy fuel the throwaway society? The role of opportunity costs for products that lose value over time.” Journal of Cleaner Production (2022): 133207.

Previously: How circular is the circular economy?

“In São Paulo, the vast majority of recycling is done by individuals called catadores. They collect discarded drink cans in their carts to recycle for money to help support themselves. London-based Studio Swine took to the streets to create a project that would help catadores get much more money for their work.

The duo behind Studio Swine made an improvised mobile foundry to smelt the aluminum from the cans. They then pressed locally-found objects into sand found at a nearby construction site to make molds. After pouring the liquid aluminum into the molds, the team had created interestingly-shaped stool seats. Each stool requires around 60 cans to produce. This may sound like a lot, but a catadore can collect thousands of cans in one workday.”

See & read more: Mobile foundry gives recyclers a creative income stream.

Many of the metals traditionally used in manufacturing, such as zinc, copper, and aluminum, show no signs of vulnerability. But other metals critical in the production of newer technologies — like smartphones, infrared optics, and medical imaging — may be harder to obtain in coming decades, said Thomas Graedel, the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Industrial Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and lead author of the paper.

“Some metals that have become deployed for technology only in the last 10 or 20 years are available almost entirely as byproducts. You can’t mine specifically for them; they often exist in small quantities and are used for specialty purposes. And they don’t have any decent substitutes.”

The researchers also analyzed how recycling rates have evolved over the years and the degree to which different industries are able to utilize “non-virgin” sources of materials. Some materials, such as lead, are highly recycled because they are typically used in bulk, Graedel said. But the relatively rare materials that have become critical in some modern electronics are far more difficult to recycle because they are used in such miniscule amounts — and can be difficult to extricate from the increasingly complex and compact new technologies.

“I think these results should send a message to product designers to spend more time thinking about what happens after their products are no longer being used,” he said. “So much of what makes the recycling of these materials difficult is their design.”

Read more: Study: Metals Used in High-Tech Products Face Future Supply Risks, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Livestock at waste management park in Bobbili, India

Lowly as it may seem, Bobbili prides itself on its zero-waste zone with a comprehensive recycling system that ensures nothing goes to the landfill. Their unique solution involves door-to-door collection of household waste strictly separated as dry and wet, and the 2010 ban on plastic. The spotlight of the scheme is the Municipal Solid Waste Park – a 8.5-acre site comprising a bio-compost yard handling 2.5 to 3 tonnes of organic waste a day. The most innovative part is the utilisation of livestock.

A 2012 report by India’s Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies states that “animals are the part of the solution, not the problem. The livestock’s potential contribution in solving environmental problems is equally large. The livestock contribute to tackle our environmental degradation by a variety of ways.”

By 2012 the park kept 4 chickens, 21 ducks, 6 pigs and other animals for different functions. Chickens are benefited from the insects in the waste, whilst pigs would gulp the food waste collected from hotels. Ducks take care of the leftovers collected from the fish market. Dogs are in charge of domestic leftovers. The ‘park farm’ is probably the first in the world to implement animal feed on a municipal level.

Solid Waste Management Park in Bobbili, India

The animal farm takes its inspiration from the history of feeding animals with organic waste. Dogs, especially domesticated ones, are effective in taking care of meat scraps. As a common practice in traditional pig farming, pigs often consume the leftovers, rather than energy and cost-intensive crops. Ducks and chickens respectively favour kitchen scraps and milling by-products. Given the extraordinary effectiveness of earthworms to decompose vegetable and food wastes, vermicompost is another key of this living waste management system.

Besides the fact that landfill relief means avoided methane emission, animal waste can be a sustainable source of natural fertiliser whose cost and carbon footprint are way lower than artificial ones. More importantly, because the system doesn’t involve complex technologies, it can be easilly implemented – though in a smaller scale – on household levels. Just by keeping dogs and resuming the tradition of backyard chicken, we can easily reduce kitchen scraps and contribute to a significant cut in food waste.

This is a guest post by Ren Wan, a writer and sustainability advocate who is based in Hong Kong. She runs JupYeah, an online swapping platform, is a managing editor for WestEast Magazine, and blogs at Loccomama. Ren previously wrote about Furoshiki, a square cloth that with different wrapping techniques can basically transport anything.

“The particles pass a magnet that extracts ferrous metal particles. The particles then flow over a small eddy current rotor, which is positioned underneath the grinding wheel and powered by a 3:1 gear ratio with the bicycle chain. The changing magnetic fields of the eddy current rotor repulse conducting metal, but have no effect on non-metals; the metal particles are projected horizontally while the nonmetals fall vertically, separating particles in the bottom collection tray. The bicyclean requires a single operator.”

Read more: Bicyclean. Via Co.EXIST.

More pictures and plans at Sandy’s Can Cars (via Ikkaro). Related: 26 paper models of vintage cars.

Here. (Hat tip to Sally)