I first landed on this term in USDA research paper about alleviating export barriers resulting from U.S. produce stickers often being made of non-compostable plastic.^[https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=441951] It’s fascinating that countries like France and New Zealand have already banned non-compostable produce stickers with more on the way like South Australia.
In fact, I learned that Rwanda became the first plastic-free nation* in 2009, effectively banning single use plastics. This is fascinating and I would encourage reading more.
It turns out that France’s law 2020-105 aims to eliminate waste and advance consumption from a linear to a more circular economy. This law is a transposition from EU circular economy action plan intended to reduce pressure on natural resources and create sustainable growth and jobs.
So what is a circular economy?
In a circular economy, the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste is minimized. The current linear economy continually increases its demands of scarce natural resources.
In my opinion, it is driven by a major principle: our waste has value.
In the example of produce stickers, what if we were to universally ban plastic stickers and switch to home-compostable paper ones? The following would happen:
- There is less burden on the consumer to remove a sticker
- Less plastic will end up in landfills or the environment
- Scraps can easily be composted at home
- Less contaminated industrial compost batches
Something that once cost money in the form of waste management, has now been given value. This is a minor scenario, however, if we apply this reasoning towards many aspects of consumption we start to move towards a circular economy which ultimately reduces costs for everyone.
What else can we apply this to?
- A common one is recycling. It’s no surprise based on my writing in Recycling Research that the U.S. is pretty bad at recycling, with many contaminated batches (or even perfectly good ones) being thrown alongside landfill. If we had a system that favored the value of our waste, we would streamline every step of the consumption process to acquire the waste material and assign it value. This provides a good compromise between consumption and sustainability.
Did You Know: One pound of #1 PETE plastic has the same value as one pound of diesel? And that’s just material value! You can also literally make 7.1 pounds (1 gallon) of diesel using 8.3 pounds of plastic.^[https://www.plastictooilmachine.com/News/Industry_News/How_much_plastic_does_it_take_to_make_a_gallon_of_diesel_289.html] Based on the average annual American consumption of ~287 lbs. of plastic, imagine every American throwing out 35 gallons of fuel every year.
- The residual waste itself! While it’s not exactly clean energy, waste-to-energy plants still give waste value.
- The right to repair. If a TV screen breaks, it is often easier and more cost effective to replace the entire TV even though the rest of the TV is fine! This only comes at a cost to the consumer (on top of waste management taxes). There is plenty of discussion to be had around this topic, especially regarding the nuanced subject of Obsolescence.
- Electronics, textiles, batteries, vehicles, construction material, …