The traditional business model for developing and selling products is known as a linear economy. This means it works like a line. In the beginning, companies get and process resources as cheaply and easily as they can. Next, consumers rush out to buy the latest, new and updated products. Lastly, when their goods no longer work as well as they should or a new one replaces them, they just throw them in the trash to get the newest. So, what’s the problem with this? Well, two things actually. First, our precious resources are being chewed up faster than ever and will run out soon. Second, huge piles of rubbish are polluting our lands and oceans. Rubbish thrown out isn’t gone. It’s just out of sight for a while. 

THE STEPS

TAKE

The first step in the production of products in a linear economy involves extracting raw materials from the Earth's natural resources. These materials can include minerals, metals, fossil fuels, timber, and agricultural products. Extracting materials through mining, for instance, uses many energy-intensive processes to turn rock into metal and is destructive to the landscape.

MAKE

Once the raw materials are obtained, they go through processes to transform them into the necessary components or materials for the final product. This phase often involves energy-intensive manufacturing processes and produces waste and emissions. The processed materials are then assembled into the final product. Products are often packaged in disposable materials, such as plastic (made from oil) or cardboard, for transportation and sale. Finished products are distributed to retailers and consumers through a network of transportation systems, which can include trucks, ships, planes, and more. Many products travel great distances to reach their new owners.

DISPOSE

Consumers purchase and use the products, which eventually reach the end of their lifecycle. When the product is old, no longer useful or functional, it is typically discarded by the consumer. Unless the product can be disassembled into separate materials, disposal may involve disposal in landfills, incineration, or other waste management methods, causing pollution to the environment.

THE WASH UP

In the linear economy resources are extracted from the environment, used to manufacture products, and then disposed of as waste after their useful life. For example, a plastic water bottle is produced from virgin petroleum-based plastic, used once, and then discarded into a landfill or incinerated. This model generates significant waste, contributing to environmental pollution and resource depletion. The disposal of electronic devices like smartphones, for example, which contain valuable materials like rare metals, contributes to electronic waste (e-waste) often ending up in landfills. Products are often designed with a limited lifespan or planned obsolescence, encouraging consumers to replace them frequently.

The primary focus of the linear economy is on production and consumption, with little consideration for the end-of-life disposal of products. For example, consumers purchasing new smartphones rarely think about what will happen to their old devices once they are no longer used. In addition, linear supply chains are designed for the one-way movement of products from manufacturers to consumers, with little emphasis on product recovery, recycling or refurbishing.

The circular economy goes further than the principles of sustainability by proposing a totally different business model. It aims to limit the waste of finite resources and the energy consumed in extracting, manufacturing and recycling materials. In a circular economy, the objective is to keep valuable resources in use for as long as possible. When products truly reach the end of their usefulness, they are recycled and become raw materials for the production of new products. Then, the cycle starts again.

INTRODUCTION

The circular economy embraces two kinds of regenerative processes known as 'cycles'. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes a Technical cycle and a Biological cycle. The technical cycle refers to the use of non-biodegradable resources in the manufacture of products and the biological cycle refers to the use of biodegradable resources in farming and food production.

FOR THE PRODUCT'S LIFETIME

The Technical cycle illustrates how a product's life can be extended by designing in more flexible outcomes. This includes designing it in such a way that the whole product or its components can be put to different uses in the future and ensuring that the parts it is made from can be separated into their different materials, easily for recycling. Prolonging the life of products needs to be designed into the product, upstream, before a product is manufactured, not by considering recycling at the end of its usable life.

FEATURES OF THE TECHNICAL CYCLE

Raw materials are extracted from the ground or natural environment. In the Circular economy, renewable materials are preferred and renewable energy sources are used for the processing of raw materials. Following this, a product is assembled in a factory.

The consumer uses the product as it is intended for as long as they desire. However, in the Circular economy, it is not discarded at this time, it has been designed carefully to allow for maintenance and repair. At times when the original user does not require the product they share it with others in the community. Sharing products is an effective way to prevent additional products from being manufactured needlessly and to prevent waste. Advanced stages of the Circular economy re-use or re-distribute products in different ways or to different markets. Some business models provide channels where their products are returned to the manufacturer to be refurbished or remanufactured. New products are re-born from existing parts and materials. Ultimately, when the product or its components have reached the end of their usable lives, they can be disassembled and their materials recycled to be used in the manufacture of new products.

PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULAR DESIGN

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is the leading organisation, pioneering the Circular economy and its relationship with Design. The foundation introduces Circular Design in a webpage titled "We need to Radically Rethink how we Design'.

On this page the Ellen MacArthur Foundation identifies three principles for the circular economy: Eliminate, Circulate, and Regenerate. They also introduce two important terms; upstream and downstream. Upstream means design events that happen or should happen before a product is made and downstream means events, like recycling, that are used to recover resources after a product has been made and used. These are important terms in Circular Design, because, if a desired environmental outcome is to be met, downstream, then changes need to be made in the design of a product, upstream of its manufacture.

Let's unpack the terms eliminate, circulate and regenerate.

ELIMINATE

Careful design is used upstream to eliminate waste and pollution by selecting and using materials that can be recycled and used multiple times and by making use of by-products. CIRCULATE

Products are designed so that they can be circulated to keep them in use for as long as possible. Products are also designed for repair and to be upgraded. They should also be designed to be emotionally durable, ensuring that products do not simply become out of fashion and undesirable. Business models should include resale, rental and sharing of products.

REGENERATE

Products should be designed to be regenerative by using renewable, biodegradable materials that can safely be returned to the earth.

GOOD TO KNOW

RECYCLING

Students may not realise that for materials to be recyclable they need to be separated from each other and free of contamination. For example, despite their paper appearance, coffee cups are not recyclable. This is because most paper coffee cups are lined with a thin layer of polyethylene (plastic) on the inside. This lining is essential to make the cups liquid-resistant and prevent them from leaking. Unfortunately, this plastic lining creates a barrier that makes it difficult for recycling facilities to separate the paper fibres from the plastic. Secondly, coffee cups are often contaminated with liquids, oils, and residues from the beverages they hold. This contamination can further complicate the recycling process, as it can damage recycling equipment and degrade the quality of recycled paper. Finally, paper coffee cups are typically a combination of paper, plastic, and sometimes even a thin layer of aluminium (for heat retention). These mixed materials make it challenging to recycle them efficiently, as the various components must be separated and processed separately.

In a similar way, mobile phones contain many valuable and recyclable resources such as metals including aluminium, copper, gold, silver, and other rare earth minerals, glass and battery materials including lithium and cobalt. However, unless their components are designed to be separated, many of these precious resources are not able to be recovered in recycling processes.