Circular economy concepts and mining

VOICE OVER: Traditional economic models typically take a linear form of take,
make and dispose.

Transitioning away from this linear way of thinking, is what the circular economy is
all about. The circular model aspires to mimic nature. where there is no waste and
everything is reused. As a regenerative and restorative system it is designed to
utilize the maximum potential of a resource.

The conventional linear economy has no contingency for recycling resulting in

consistent weights production. By shifting industrial systems from linear to circular
models, processes are designed to optimise recovery and reuse promoting new value
and supply chains. Byproducts of one system can be used as inputs into other
systems. The circular economy concept has been gaining traction in China through
its circular economy initiative, and also in Europe through the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation and the European Commission.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states the circular economy rests on three
principles: preserve and enhance natural capital by controlling finite stocks and
balancing renewable resource flows; optimise resource yields by circulating products,
components and materials at the highest quality at all times in both technical and
biological cycles; and foster system effectiveness by revealing and designing out
negative externalities. The model also aspires to five ideologies: design out waste,
just like the biological world where waste does not exist; build resilience through
diversity, namely modularity, versatility and adaptivity; work towards energy from
renewable sources supported and enabled

by the reduced threshold energy levels; thinking systems to understand how paths
influence one another within a whole, as well as a relationship of the whole to the
paths; thinking cascades to extract additional value from products and materials by
cascading them through other applications.

To date, the downstream and service industries have been most involved with the
uptake of the circular economy. Less so the mining sector. The mining sector is still
represented by linear rather than circular activities through its supply of resources
to society. Waste is a critical issue along the whole metals value chain making the
mining sector one of the world's largest waste generators. From mining waste to end
of life products such as scrap steel and demolition waste or the growing problem of
electronic waste, each waste stream has its own set of environmental issues. For
example, the concerns around using mine tailings in dams differ from those of
electronic waste.

The circular economy provides the mining and metals industry assistance
perspective on waste elimination, rethinking and redesigning the processes along
the value chain and between supply networks, promotes opportunities to create
value and reduce environmental liability. One way to encourage the uptake of the
circular economy, is by introducing new innovative business models that optimise
the way companies generate and capture economic value, and in doing so take a
positive step towards sustainable development. Initiatives adhering to the ideals

of the circular economy already exist in various industries. A major information

technology company introduced a recycling program to reuse printer cartridges. This
is known as closed-loop recycling which retains material for multiple cycles of use. A
similar approach could be used in mining for waste lubricant and the refurbishment
of equipment.

A multinational shoe manufacturer recycles used shoes in a process called down

cycling. The recycled material is of lower value but is still useful as rubber for
playgrounds. This diverts the end-of-life waste from landfill. In the mining sector,

mining waste can be used for backfilling as a soil additive and for road construction.
Some more commonly known recycling programs are implementing what's known as
upcycling.

Waste materials are used to create higher value products. One company in Australia
has a program that used recycled plastics to make furniture. Applying upcycling in
mining can see the recovery of byproducts from waste and the rehabilitation of
abandoned mines. A major clothing and shoe manufacturer makes use of a recycling

process called industrial symbiosis. This is where different industries share or

exchange waste, byproducts, services, or utilities.

They take and convert old tyres into material to make shoes. In the mining sector,
alternative raw materials for cement production could be sourced from mining waste
or byproducts. Many companies offer collection services of old or used products which
are then forwarded to the appropriate recycling facilities. A small private US
company has collection programs for hard to recycle materials, and an International
coffee company has its coffee capsule recycling program. This can be applied in the
mining sector through the collection of old tyres used by mining vehicles. These
examples illustrate that greater levels of technical and business innovation are key
characteristics of successful circular initiatives. Ultimately, helping to boost
participation in the emerging circular economy