Mind the gap

“The triple planetary crisis—climate, nature and pollution—along with the need for greater equity and stability—are why circular action at scale is critical now.” – David McGinty, Global Director at the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE)

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The 2022 edition of the Circularity Gap Report shows how little progress we have made in our attempts to make the global economy more circular in the last 5 years.

It transpires that we continue to extract ever more raw materials to keep our economies growing despite the rhetoric that we should be doing the opposite.

“…I do know what to say now. We’re clearly on the verge of a catastrophic and irreversible climate crisis and the reality is that we’re not doing nearly enough. What we need now is a clear course of?action.”– John Doerr, Chair of VC firm Kleiner Perkins.

Why is there so much affirmed ambition yet so little policy or budget to back it up?

Why is there so much expressed enthusiasm for changing to circular principles from the private sector and so little progress?

Why are those companies committed to circular strategies, and designing and making lifelong products and using product-as-service models not being supported by financial institutions?

?Why, are those pioneers of circularity left unsupported by financial institutions when they know that circularity entails new risks that require long term financial planning and ‘patient’ capital as well as extra costs such as the selection and use of sustainable materials and more responsibility for products during their lifetime?

To fill the circularity gap, we need to change the current linear rules.

We need to redefine linear finance and make it fit for the circular economy.

We need to redefine risks and rewards.

We need to redefine costs and values.

We need to learn that a fresh approach and radical action is essential no matter how upsetting change can be.

“We have less than ten years to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.” – Jules Kortenhorst, CEO at Rocky Mountain Institute

High performance, durability, quality, and longevity comes at a price - a circular product is more expensive than its linear competitor to make and is better value for the user and the environment over its lifetime.

Which is why, mindsets and rules must change.

As designers, producers, and consumers, how we design, make products, and choose products really does matter and truly makes a difference.

Similarly, how those innovative, sustainable, and circular products are financed really does matter. To make a difference we need to adapt and adopt new and diverse costs and returns structures, accounting rules, guarantees, standards for waste, property rights, deposits, subscriptions etc.

Download here: https://www.circularity-gap.world/2022#Download-the-report

“People invariably object and complain whenever a new approach is introduced into an existing array of products and systems. Conventions are violated: new learning is required. The merits of the new system are irrelevant: it is the change that is upsetting.” ―?Donald A. Norman, Godfather of UX Design: 21st Century Design

Mind the gap

We know that Nature abhors a vacuum

Hoover mined that gap

Electrolux were running scared

But was Dyson in a flap?

Nope

Why? Because James Dyson was too busy cleaning up with his bag-free vacuum cleaners

Just as Henry Ford was racing ahead with his horse-free carriage

Now it is time to do the same for beds because our health and that of our precious planet really does matter.

Sleep may be a horizontal business, but it no longer needs to be a take-make-waste linear one.

Ammique is a mattress-free, high performance, forever bed and a circular business – by design. ?

Read more: www.ammique.com