Circular Economy (Essay Sample)

CIRCULAR ECONOMY
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date
Response to question 1:
Fundamental principles of a circular economy model and their significance to sustainability
The basic principles of a circular economy advocate for a restorative design that maintains the high utility of products. This is achieved by keeping products, components, and materials safe throughout. Some of the principles are as discussed below.
Design out waste
This principle states that the issues of waste should not be there as everything should be put to use. The products should be designed in a manner that makes them automatically fit into the biological and technical system to allow for recycling. The principle is based on the fact that biological materials are easily composted due to their non-toxic nature. Furthermore, the system advocates for technical substances due the fact that they are designed for repetitive usage with high-quality retention and minimal energy (Daly, 2010). Examples of such technical materials include; polymers, alloys, and other artificial materials. This principle is based on the school of thought of regenerative design by McDonough and Braungart who worked on a regenerative design that could be applied to all systems.
Build resilience through diversity
Due to unknown risks facing world economies, the circular economy suggest that all producers in the economy should be adaptive in trying new production channels that promote maximum resource use by allowing recycling of waste materials. For example body parts of many vehicles could be recycled to save on the costs of acquiring new steel material that is very expensive to acquire (Daly, 2012). Versatility should be emphasized if economies are to grow. World resources are rapidly declining, and it would be important to perform multiple tasks using similar resources. Industries should be resilient as economic crisis could be solved through creativity as provided for in circular economy. The principle is based on the cradle to cradle school of thought by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart who advocated for safe and productive processes through diversity.
Work towards using energy from renewable sources
According to the school of thought of industrial ecology by professor Allwood and Professor Clift, Renewable energy sources should take over if the economies are to be stable shortly. The non-renewable energy sources are expensive and are facing depletion shortly implying that after being depleted production could be hampered in a big way. These manufacturers should emulate the perfect example of Vestas Company that generates energy from the wind. The energy is cheap to generate and does not pollute the environment (Feng, 2013). Thus, the money that would have been used to clean up the pollution effect is used for more constructive development projects hence leading to more economic growth that is more sustainable.
For instance income generated from solar energy could be used to run the production system in Agricultural sector while reasonable amount of fossil fuels could be used in production of fertilizer, run farm machinery and facilitate other processing activities. Fossil fuel inputs can also be reduced by integrating food and farming systems. This would also help in capturing more energy values of by-products and manure (Feng, 2013). These would in the end demand for additional labor as suggested by Walter Stahel, who viewed Circular economy as a solution the problem of unemployment.
Diverting the taxation focus from labor towards energy and related material usage would greatly contribute to the adoption of business models in the circular economy. It would also streamline the issue of efficiency in resource utilization especially in the consumption generation
Think in systems
This principle is in line with the school of thought of performance economy by Walter Stahel in 1976 who worked hard to develop a closed-loop framework. The principle stresses the importance of understanding the correlation between various systems in the economy. Since circular economy involves reversal processes to achieve maximum use if resources, understanding the relationship of the entire system would be important in determining the real value generated (Feng, 2013). This would then help in making a comparison with the linear economic model of production, consumption and dumping to make a conclusion of how the two relate to each other. The relationship is important in determining the impact circular economy has on the environment and society at large.
For instance a machine can be a system because it completes a certain process but at the same time it can be a determining factor in that what it produces is used as an input in another firm and hence its existence determines the future of another company and that is how circular economy works. Systems thinking could imply influencing other systems already in existence that is non-linear in nature. Usually, systems that run on their own without depending on existing ones find it hard to exist, poor starting in terms of expenses incurred and frustrating outcomes lead to their collapse (Jackson, 2012). Hence, there is a need for a circular economy where the end product of one firm is linked to the input requirement of another. This would lead to a sustainable economy where there is no resource wastage.
System thinking puts more weight on stocks and flows. Proper stock management is mandatory in this system that has longevity characteristics. This would positively impact on the business by encouraging more research and innovations that lead to the development of diversified value chains. It also eliminates the tendency of relying on short term strategies that are dangerous to the future o the business. The knowledge of flows in a complex system gives more useful information concerning the concerning the possible tradeoffs between resilience and efficiency. The more efficient system has fewer problems. Effectiveness is the meeting point of efficiency and resilience (Jackson, 2012). Efficiency implies doing something the right way while on the other hand effectiveness calls for doing that which is right, this relates to the circular economy which advocated for taking the economic models that are right for future sustainability.
Think in cascades
The principle is based on Biomimicry school of thought by Janine Benuys who studied natural ideas and imitated their designs to solve human problems. The principle concentrates on the economic materials that are biological in nature. The need for pursuing value creation activity solely relies on the possibility of deriving extra value from materials and products that by covering them through other means. Normally decomposition of biological nature breaks down material in stages through fungi and bacterial microorganisms (Myrdal, 2010). This leads to nutrient and energy extraction from protein, fat, and carbohydrate found in the material, and the process leads to maximum value extraction. This reflects how the efficient circular economy can be. On contrary activities like timber cutting to directly get timber loses value that could have been derived from decomposition.
Response to question two
How the leading bear manufacturing companies are incorporating circular practices
The leading Beer manufacturing companies are incorporating circular practices in their business strategies by shifting from disposable packaging materials to glass bottles that are reusable to package their products. This is likely to save on the cost of production incurred annually in purchasing packaging material. Thus, more than 20% of costs incurred previously are expected to be saved (Myrdal, 2010). The use of renewable bottles offers these companies a lot of benefits. For instance due to reduced packaging costs the companies can reduce the cost of beer manufacturing and hence adjust their prices downwards. The r...