Circular Economy: a solution to the covid19 crisis?

These are the concluding comments in our whitepaper CIRCULAR ECONOMY: A SOLUTION TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS? The full paper can be downloaded here for free: https://www.acre.com/thought-leadership/circular-economy-a-solution-to-the-covid-19-crisis

2020 has been a year that has changed the world’s societies - without exception. While countries across Europe continue to struggle in dealing with repeated waves of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns as an immediate response, society is still evolving and adapting at an exponential pace.

Not only the economy, but also its people have been heavily affected by the economic downturn. At the same time, we have seen industries booming during and because of the crisis. Moreover, the pandemic also exposed shortcomings in our global supply chains and ways of doing business. The economic downturn during the pandemic has highlighted how our business as usual approach is impacting our environment. However, many of the positive effects of the economic downturn, such as clearer skies, waters and air, only lasted for a short period of time, before emissions bounced back to pre-pandemic levels.

The interviews with our three experts are all pointing towards the same direction: to reach the target of the Paris Agreement to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, however, much more drastic action is needed to reduce emissions permanently. Also, there is clear alignment that a circular economy is much better equipped to handle global pandemics like Covid-19.

The concept of the circular economy can be used to reduce virgin material use and avoid emissions. It ultimately initiates the process of redesigning business models and products to facilitate re-usability and ease to repair damaged or defect products. This in turn decreases vulnerabilities in the supply chain and increases efficiency.

At the same time, the circular economy has the potential to create 700,000 jobs through additional labour demand in recycling plants and repair services as well as a GDP growth of almost 0.5% by 2030, in comparison to the baseline scenario.

During the past year, governments around the world have taken short-term measures to minimise the impact that the crisis has. Our response to Covid-19 should be different though: all our effort and capital should be channelled to building a circular economy. At present, most “solutions” and short-term backing are financial injections to support the status quo and the institutional and economic arrangements. However, we should demand our politicians and captains of industry to actively channel these funds into the drivers of the circular economy, push the sustainability agenda, boost innovation and accelerate building the future we want to live in.

This deep and ongoing crisis may hopefully destroy some of the ‘old normal’ characteristics of this moment in human history (the way we eat, travel, work and consume energy will have a direct impact on (animal) agriculture and forestry, (air) travel and fossil energy consumption to name a few) and could bring about the transformations in sustainability that will enable us to build a better future for all life here on Earth. The risk is that exactly the opposite will happen — and that is a risk that humanity cannot afford to take. It is in our hands to make the right decision.

These are the concluding comments in our whitepaper CIRCULAR ECONOMY: A SOLUTION TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS? The full paper can be downloaded here for free: https://www.acre.com/thought-leadership/circular-economy-a-solution-to-the-covid-19-crisis