Re-imagining the Circular Economy with Emerging Tech

Circular economy is the antithesis of the typical linear economy where resources are collected, used and wasted, instead it describes a paradigm of an industrial system that is intended to be restorative and regenerative in all of its activities, where products, parts and materials get reused, remanufactured into more products or recycled as opposed to the very end of the hierarchy of waste management.

The rise of such disruptive factors as digitalization, along with artificial intelligence and the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its chatter has a strong potential to support the shift towards circular economy. Creates possibilities for implementation of more efficient and effective circular business models, why efficient use of resources, implemented with new means of innovations and created value without wasting time. 4.0 describes the processes through which advanced digital technologies (IoT, Robotics, Algorithms, data analytics, etc..) are assimilated with traditional manufacturing and industrial practices which in recent times has been referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, this integration has contributed to the enhancement of circular economy.

Digitization and the implementation of AI-based tools can support the enhancement of product and process circularity at all levels of the value chain. The green energy sector is one of the sectors which seeks to utilize the circular economy paradigm and looks for the ways how digital technologies could aid these efforts. Servitization is a concept that is gaining ground in modern industry which allows better traceability and tracking of the product lifecycle while rental of manufactured goods is prevalent. The push for servitize models has been aided by the combination of IOT, big data and cloud computing as it makes available the much-needed information and links to meet the requirements of a circular economy.

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Transitioning to a circular economy can benefit from AI and emerging technologies in a number of ways, as is evidenced by the energy sector. There are also grid optimization solutions based on artificial intelligence which regulate energy demand and supply and increase the efficiency and integration of green energy sources. Renewable energy sources operating mechanisms for example wind turbine and solar panels can benefit from predictive maintenance algorithms that foresee any problem arising with the infrastructure. Finally, there are waste to energy systems that are also AI driven and these systems optimizes the processing of waste and conversion of waste into energy.

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AI has a revolutionary potential in the manufacturing sector, in relation to product development and improvement, production, as well as product end-of-life issues, material recycling. With predictive algorithms and analytics, AI can assist manufacturers in creating products that can be designed accounting for their disassembly, reusability, and remanufacturing after the intended life cycle has elapsed. Apart from that, robotic process automation and AI based technologies can also improve the accuracy and efficiency of the manufacturing cycle and processes thereby minimizing materials wastage and making out more recoverable worth materials. Besides, monitoring and control systems, help AI integrate things such as telematics that show how a product is being used, how much it is worn, how much more is there to use, and how much more maintenance is needed. This entails more of maintenance than of using the equipment making it easier and more predictive. These AI powered solutions can be implemented at every stage of a product cycle from material sourcing to manufacturing enabling companies to move away from a linear economy to a circular economy where materials and resources are retained, recycled, and reused in production processes and reduced landfilling.

Like any others, the shift to a circular economy has also met some constraints. Majority of manufacturers have been concentrating on the stepwise strategies where the focus has been on better waste management, better recycling rather than going for the more radical circular design strategy which gives redesigning of business models and value chains a whole new meaning.

The implementation of cogence as a circular economy in the age of common use of artificial intelligence and new emerging technologies is both delicate and complicated. However, it is management in a way and offers great environmental, social, and economic positive impacts. Organizations should harness the opportunities available because of digital developments and commercial models with the circular economy so that they can open new avenues, minimize their footprint on the environment, and promote sustainability. It will be critical for businesses, political leaders, and scientists—as the circular economy grows—to cooperate and find solutions to these challenges and be able to realize the full potential of modern technologies. A similar approach can be adopted, and this will allow us to open new ways for proper functioning of the economy by minimizing environmental degradation and conserving resources. The circular economy is one that others practice, and it is needed now, with the advent of AI and emerging technologies, the time to hurry-up this transformation hasn’t come. The online characteristics of these transforming devices should inspire putting the resources in our products right the first time and give them long life.