As human tendencies go, none are as juxtapositioned as our need to form emotional attachments to objects whilst simultaneously indulging ourselves in the throw-away society. The longer we hold an object, the stronger the sense of nostalgia towards it. Even stronger perhaps is the sense of disappointment when these objects fall out of use, funnily enough, other due to wear and tear or alternatively, outgrowing and leaving them idle.
Consumers have long since imbibed the culture of replacing what once was – a pattern that has predictably given rise to an excess of discarded products that have left over-stressed waste management systems with no reprieve to the burgeoning volumes of waste.
But what if there were an alternative – a way to repurpose and reprocess the growing old stocks of products? A now-popular phenomenon called Circularity has received much traction, especially in the fashion industry where clothes have been reused, redesigned, and even rebranded.
With the growing acceptance of circularity, attention and scrutiny have turned their heads toward manufacturers to assimilate circularity fully into their production processes. Manufacturing, with its essentiality in both emerging as well as developed economies, remains an important contributor to innovation, making outsized contributions to research and development, exports, and productivity growth.
This leaves us with a pressing question – can global manufacturing be made truly sustainable?
Manufacturing industries have expanded across the globe in the past century, especially in lower and middle-income countries that, woefully, lack the resources to protect the environment and public health and to implement cleaner production methods. Industrial pollution is culpable for the degradation of the health of the general population due to the associated contamination of drinking water, crops, soil, fish, livestock, air, and other resources.
The amelioration of this problem lies in hands of the circular economy, where waste no longer exists – production loops and products are recycled indefinitely. This vision propels manufacturers to rethink how products are manufactured, designed, and shipped in a more regenerative fashion, away from the erstwhile linear model (take, make, waste).
With the expanding discourse and scrutiny afforded to sustainable business activities, prevalent trends in implementing circularity demand more real-time data that enables improving manufacturing so that it is optimized to consume fewer resources, reduce its adverse environmental impact, and make it adaptable to changing designs and material flows. It calls for new standards and business models that help industries reach their circular economy goals. Opportunely, innovation is an unlimited resource in any business ecosystem and many firms are well on their way towards developing innovative ways to sufficiently set the recycling process on an indefinite loop.
Enerkem
Using refuse to run your vehicle may have seemed like a long shot before, but Enerkem has turned it into reality. The Canadian firm has developed a revolutionary technology based on a ubiquitous resource – non-recyclable waste – to manufacture biofuels like methanol, ethanol, and other chemicals used in products like paints, solvents, glue, plastic, and even textiles. Going beyond its production process, Enerkem also helps communities create value and meet local waste diversion goals with its business firmly rooted in circularity.
Doubling as a sustainable waste management solution, their technology uses waste such as textiles, non-recyclable plastics, and wood residues; thereby reducing pressure on landfills. Using urban solid waste as a raw material for the production of biofuels offers up significant advantages – not only does it eliminate any impact on land use but resources are already available from the previous collection, distribution, and logistics infrastructure of the waste management industry. These factors make Enerkem a sustainable alternative to the challenges associated with waste disposal.
Close the Loop
Many a firm have or are in the process of developing mechanisms to incorporate recycled plastics into their production process. One such firm to take a stab at it is Close the Loop; specifically, in the construction of roads. The Australian company, founded in 2001, has committed to providing firms across the globe with solutions for reuse, recycling, recovery, and sustainability, specializing in mixed waste. Its product, TonerPlas, perhaps best captures their ingenuity – an asphalt additive made of blended old printer toner and soft plastic with bitumen and recycled glass. Moving beyond its obvious implications for recycling, it also lasts 65% longer than conventional asphalt.
HYLA Mobile
The life cycle of a smartphone is a little over 2 years on average, resulting in a pile of abandoned devices. To remedy this, HYLA Mobile works with global manufacturers and service providers to recycle and reuse devices and their components. This feat however isn’t without a few hurdles as the secondary mobile market is a complex ecosystem, requiring careful management. HYLA works with mobile service carriers, retailers, and manufacturers to upgrade their processes to circularity and create economic value for their customers and themselves. It is estimated that more than 50 million devices will be reused, generating $4 billion for owners and preventing 6,500 tonnes of waste from landfills.
These business models, while having significant implications for sustainable manufacturing, arent without pitfalls; the first and foremost being the high implementation cost associated with plant installation and upgradation of the technology and skills. And while it would be easier for the developed economies to sort out the funds to boost the circularity shift, it would be back-breaking for emerging economies to make these significant investments for the cause.
Another problem is the collection of products that have reached their end of life. Most organizations have no access to their products after the respective point of sale, and even when they do, regaining it could be very complex and time-consuming. Evidence suggests that around 35-40% of organizations depend on customers’ goodwill to collect old products to be recycled.
Simply put, more than 90% of what we use ends up as waste. Honoring the obligation and opportunity to pivot to a circular economy, lest the final straw breaks the proverbial camel’s back, which in this case is the burgeoning waste management and resource shortages crises catching up with us. Breaking away from a linear manufacturing system and pivoting to a circular economy can give enterprises an opportunity to deliver solutions that sustain their business and may even open the door to manufacturing that is guilt-free.
Author: Parth Chhajed
Editor: Cheryl Saju
ThinkBizz 