The linear economy is dragging us to the brink of environmental collapse. Characterised by an abundance of products and saturated markets, since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution it has been defined by the "produce-consume-dispose" premise. Its very essence is undermining the environment's capacity to self-organise into virtuous cycles, negatively impacting the ecosystem services that are indispensable to the health and prosperity of the world's population. The only solution to try to contain environmental damage and guarantee the global availability of resources, which are progressively diminishing, is to transition to a low-carbon circular economy.

The figures on the consumption and disposal of raw materials

In 2020 alone, to give some figures, 100.6 billion tonnes of primary sources were consumed worldwide, compared with 27 billion in 1970, according to Circle Economy's Circularity Gap Report. Estimates — such because no metric currently exists — indicate that municipal solid waste produced each year reaches 2 billion tonnes, consisting mainly of food, paper and plastic. If it were possible to reassess "the economic potential of outputs that today constitute a mere negative externality" — namely waste, discards, unused items and unrepaired goods — it would be possible to fuel a "regenerative and restorative industrial system" with a consequent reduction in healthcare costs, explains environmental journalist and editor of Materia Rinnovabile Emanuele Bompan in the updated edition of the thought-provoking volume "Cosa è l'economia circolare". The reduction in the economic cost of waste — which the circular economy renders obsolete — must be sought in "an extended legal responsibility of the producer" that "would provide the financial incentives", Bompan adds.

What the circular economy entails

The circular economy seeks to reduce the quantity of raw materials fed into the system, redesign goods and manufacturing cycles, extend product lifespans and guarantee the repairability of goods and their continued presence within the economic system, so as to prevent the release of pollutants such as microplastics into the environment. It is a way of having a product that gains value with each cycle of recycling. Multiple opportunities open up for companies: from offering products as services to performance agreements.

Plastic and post-consumer plastic, for example, fit perfectly into this new economic flow. "Plastic is a precious material that should not be wasted. Today it is widely used in packaging and single-use items, such as small cups, forks and PET bottles. Instead, it must be used to produce useful, reusable and shareable goods," Emanuele Bompan tells LifeGate. "Above all, the percentage of plastic waste that is properly recovered and recycled must be increased. Unfortunately, in Italy we suffer from a lack of infrastructure and the technological shortcomings of certain treatment facilities."

"Even at the design stage, plastics that cannot be properly recycled must be avoided," Bompan stresses. "Recycled material must always be recyclable: it can happen that combining it with certain materials creates problems during reuse."

Seizing the opportunities of the crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic "must be seen as a historic opportunity to steer the world towards sustainability," writes researcher and activist Ilaria Nicoletta Brambilla in her contribution, and towards equity. Businesses have the tools to face the epoch-defining challenge of the ecological transition with greater courage. 37 per cent of the funds from the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza will have to be allocated to climate objectives, in line with the European Green Deal. Furthermore, with the Circular Economy Action Plan of March 2020, the European Commission presented concrete actions to stimulate the shift to a circular economy.

In Italy, more and more companies — from SMEs to multinationals, particularly in the plastics sector — are choosing to rethink their business systems. Despite this, there is much to be done in order to adopt an integrated vision of the circular economy, supported also by professionals and managers with circular and cross-disciplinary competencies.

A brief guide to applying the principles of the circular economy

Bompan's volume offers a brief guide that distils the experience of more than 200 case studies and helps to open the mind to this way of thinking. It suggests starting with a general Life Cycle Assessment of production processes, using the online tool circular economy toolkit, and setting objectives and values. Then drawing up a roadmap and sharing its objectives with the entire workforce. The next phase involves thinking through "all the material cascades" and pushing the analysis "perhaps for 20–30 material cycles, especially if of biological or complex origin".

"At the heart of the circular economy is the careful design of biological and technological cycles," which "must take into account the preliminary analyses in order to optimise processes." This makes it possible to upcycle and "create products that, cycle after cycle, acquire greater value" without impacting on energy and water stocks. Finally, engaging partners, customers, workers and suppliers, because "the interdependence of cycles reduces the isolation of businesses." All of this concludes with performance monitoring and the sharing of values. Only in this way can one truly embrace the exciting circular transition.