14 Small-Scale System Solutions—Material Flow Management …
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lines. For small-scale, financially strained systems such as rural villages and municipalities, SMEs, etc., a ZE strategy can assist in boosting the local economy and/or
cash flow, while reducing the environmental burdens arising from consumption and
production systems.
14.1.3.3 The Circular Economy
The CE is an alternative route to holistic sustainability, though it is still in an early
phase of adoption. Developed to emulate the energy and material flow management
model in biological systems, its supporters position the CE as an alternative to the
current take-make-waste extractive industrial model. CE aims to redefine growth,
focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic
activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the
system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model
builds economic, natural, and social capital (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2015).
The value of the CE stems from its explicit focus on the economy. Compared
to sustainable development (which is widely seen as an environmental initiative,
even though by definition, it is not), the dominance of economic thinking within CE
concepts is clearly visible.
As hinted at earlier, according to Elia et al. (2017) and the European Environmental
Agency (EEA 2016), the CE is characterised by its ability to reduce the input and
use of natural resources; reduce emission levels; reduce valuable material losses;
increase the share of renewable and recyclable resources; and increase the durability
of products. It is based on three simple principles: design waste and pollution out of
the system; keep materials and products in use as long as possible and as economically
as possible; and regenerate natural systems.
Despite the CE’s relative novelty, its unambiguous and application-oriented nature
is a positive in fostering action toward sustainability at local, national and international levels. The CE is perhaps still a road less travelled. But, analogous to the
German Autobahn, the CE is a smooth, straight, obstacle-free, high-speed freeway to
sustainability. As exemplified in many domains in the European Union—the predominant promoter of the CE at present—the CE is not just another fancy term for
waste management. The CE would help to reduce virgin resource extraction/input
for economic processes, while also reducing the associated environmental impacts.
As opposed to other economic models, the utility of the CE has been tangibly proven
in applications in the EU. Accordingly, one recent estimation has suggested that CE
practices such as chemical leasing, nutrient recovery in agriculture, materials substitution in the construction sector, and shared ownership models in transport systems
could reduce up to 7.5 billion tonnes of CO 2e globally. This would bridge half of
the existing emissions gap to reach the 1.5 °C target as outlined under the Paris
Agreement (Schroeder et al. 2019).
Optimising material flows according to the principles of the CE is important for
easing the pressure on land. In addition to this indirect positive effect on land use,
the CE enables strategies for new land use systems based on the cascade approach
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lines. For small-scale, financially strained systems such as rural villages and municipalities, SMEs, etc., a ZE strategy can assist in boosting the local economy and/or
cash flow, while reducing the environmental burdens arising from consumption and
production systems.
14.1.3.3 The Circular Economy
The CE is an alternative route to holistic sustainability, though it is still in an early
phase of adoption. Developed to emulate the energy and material flow management
model in biological systems, its supporters position the CE as an alternative to the
current take-make-waste extractive industrial model. CE aims to redefine growth,
focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic
activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the
system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model
builds economic, natural, and social capital (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2015).
The value of the CE stems from its explicit focus on the economy. Compared
to sustainable development (which is widely seen as an environmental initiative,
even though by definition, it is not), the dominance of economic thinking within CE
concepts is clearly visible.
As hinted at earlier, according to Elia et al. (2017) and the European Environmental
Agency (EEA 2016), the CE is characterised by its ability to reduce the input and
use of natural resources; reduce emission levels; reduce valuable material losses;
increase the share of renewable and recyclable resources; and increase the durability
of products. It is based on three simple principles: design waste and pollution out of
the system; keep materials and products in use as long as possible and as economically
as possible; and regenerate natural systems.
Despite the CE’s relative novelty, its unambiguous and application-oriented nature
is a positive in fostering action toward sustainability at local, national and international levels. The CE is perhaps still a road less travelled. But, analogous to the
German Autobahn, the CE is a smooth, straight, obstacle-free, high-speed freeway to
sustainability. As exemplified in many domains in the European Union—the predominant promoter of the CE at present—the CE is not just another fancy term for
waste management. The CE would help to reduce virgin resource extraction/input
for economic processes, while also reducing the associated environmental impacts.
As opposed to other economic models, the utility of the CE has been tangibly proven
in applications in the EU. Accordingly, one recent estimation has suggested that CE
practices such as chemical leasing, nutrient recovery in agriculture, materials substitution in the construction sector, and shared ownership models in transport systems
could reduce up to 7.5 billion tonnes of CO 2e globally. This would bridge half of
the existing emissions gap to reach the 1.5 °C target as outlined under the Paris
Agreement (Schroeder et al. 2019).
Optimising material flows according to the principles of the CE is important for
easing the pressure on land. In addition to this indirect positive effect on land use,
the CE enables strategies for new land use systems based on the cascade approach