CIRCLETTER ? #16: Circular Economy = not recycling
Harald Friedl
Circular Economist | LinkedIn Top Voice | Helping organisations to go 'from linear ?? to circular ??'
1) What happened?
Tomorrow, Monday 18 March 2024 = International Recycling Day.
I want to keep it short, as it is maybe the question I have gotten most over the last 10 years as a circular economist.
1) Recycling is not bad per se. It has its role to play. And focusing on it, keeps us locked into the old system.
2) Circular economy goes far beyond that: looks at fundamental change, designing and using things differently; having more local and fair systems.
3) To unleash the potential of the circular economy, please stop comparing the 2.
Here is the difference - in a nutshell:
2) Curated Reads
2.1. UNECE issues guidelines for measuring the circular economy
The guidelines propose a framework with concepts, terms and definitions that are used in other established statistical frameworks, such as the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting.??Please find the publication here.
The guidelines propose 19 core statistical indicators to measure the circular economy.??The Guidelines for Measuring Circular Economy, incorporate contributions from national experts from ten countries (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, India, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden) and ten international organizations (Eurostat, FAO, IMF, OECD, PACE, UNECE, UNSD, UNITAR, World Resources Institute, UNEP). Statistics Finland chaired the UNECE Task Force on Measuring Circular Economy.?
2.2 . Climate change brews trouble for tea industry, but circular solutions await
It’s estimated that we drink around 5 billion cups of tea every day. Producing this vast quantity of leaves to quench global thirst for black, green and other varieties is an industry that spans more than 60 tropical and subtropical countries and largely depends on smallholder farmers.
2.3. New Fund for Circular Economy Innovation launched
The promise: "The Circular Economy Innovators Fund is the first challenger fund to offer circular economy businesses access to specialist marketing and communications support and expert advice to fast-track their business growth."
2.4. Ultra-fast fashion is a disturbing trend undermining efforts to make the whole industry more?sustainable
Shein and Temu are estimated to earn a combined $2 billion in sales in 2024, with customers from all walks of life.
2.5. The Circular Economy: How To Implement A Sustainable Supply Chain
Two leading supply chain professors reveal the secrets of how to implement a sustainable supply chain.
2.6. The path to ecological composite manufacturing
The composites industry has seen a noticeable shift towards natural materials. While conventionally flax, hemp or other plant fibres were incorporated into polymer composite systems, new solutions have recently become a market success.
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2.7. Circular Transition Index - guidance for the chemical industry
Today the chemical industry operates predominately in the linear economy. While to date, six out of nine planetary boundaries transgressed and 90% of global nature loss is linked with resource extraction, there is an urgent need to decouple resource consumption from value creation.
2.8. Sustainable Brands: Why Does Material Extraction Continue to Rise?
2.9. Circular economy boost in Bangladesh
Empowering Sustainable Futures through a gender-responsive circular economy
2.10. EU policy analysis of the Green Deal, climate, oceans and circular economy
EU Commissioner: “The industry is in favour of harmonised rules for our single market, as quickly as possible, and the Commission of course agrees". Issues still need to be solved, including the rapid increase in packaging waste caused by single-use packaging and almost exclusively plastic packaging.
3) Circular Calendar 2024
4) Infographic of the week: Which circular future?
With 108 cargo planes full of stuff dispatched each day by ultra-fast fashion giants Shein and Temu, it has to be said, and repeated:
5) Video of the week - "How can we build circular supply chain?"
The circular economy offers businesses the opportunity to redesign their supply chains to build resilience, reduce costs, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. In this video, the team that produced the Foundation’s latest white paper — Building a circular supply chain — are joined by leading voices in the industry to discuss: the role of supply chain professionals, where are we in the journey from linear to circular supply chains, and how we can accelerate progress.
6) Other great circular economy news sources
Very much suggest also to follow Alessia Falsarone and Sophie Jackson for other circular newsletters.
7) Feedback & circular actions
Feel free to share - and happy to hear your feedback ??
Want to take concrete circular actions - more at:
innovating for sustainable impact ??
7 个月Great observation. There are huge education gaps here. I believe everybody wants to do better, but ignorance at its heart is simply a lack of awareness and understanding. One of the best ways to close a knowledge gap is to start with the most commonly understood and publicly accepted concept and expand it out in a simple and accessible way. Recycling is what the vast majority of the general public can now relate to. This in itself is a significant improvement on where we were yesterday.? Progress is progress. It now has to be a case of building on it. Sometimes the biggest impact build is the smallest adjustment for the largest number of people. Not the largest adjustment for the smallest.?
Nachhaltigkeit ?? und Empathie? in Innovation und Kommunikation, Journalistin, Beraterin, Texterin, Ghostwriter, Networking, Sustainability and Empathy in Innovation and Communication
7 个月Great post Harald Friedl, many thanks for sharing your insights and all the very valuable sources. I totally agree: recycling is one of the many dimensions of circular economy, that's absolutely true. Hopefully a holistic understanding of what circular economy is all about will lead us to a regenerative economy soon. What do you think, Stefan Lohmann Fabian Kittel Zackes Brustik Ingomar Welke Dr. Anja Possekel Dr. Alwine Woischnik?
You are absolutely right that recycling is not the same as circular economy, but the issue is more complex than that. There is high-quality recycling that preserves the value of the material and is definitely part of the circular economy????. Unfortunately, there is also extensive low-quality recycling, so-called downcycling, which should be defined as linear economy??. The definition of what can be counted as recycling should therefore be tightened. As long as downcycling is accepted, we will never be able to create a circular economy!
Supercharging Sustainability & Circular Economy | Rethinking Systems | ESG Strategy & Advisory
7 个月This is brilliant! Harald Friedl
Strategic Employment Trainer at Manpower │ Revealing your potential for the job market │
7 个月Recycling is still untenable consumpion whenever someting is extracted with a waste or pollution.