CIRCULAR ECONOMY: INNOVATION IDEAS TO SOLVE THE

WASTE CRISIS
For the past 250 years, economies in the developed world have been based on a
linear model of continuous growth, drawing on the world’s natural resources to make
our lives healthier, wealthier and more comfortable. But our world is already showing
the stresses and strains of this “take, make, waste” model. That’s why we’re moving
towards a circular economy, based on long-life products that can be renewed, reused,
repaired, upgraded and refurbished to preserve precious natural resources, protect
habitats and reduce pollution.
Let’s assume you’re traveling at a set speed on a very long road, but one that
does have an end. Assuming nothing else changes, you will eventually get to the end
of the road. At that point, there is nowhere else to go. That is how a linear economy
works. A linear economy is one that uses natural resources to produce goods.
Eventually finite resources will be exhausted. It may take years, decades or even
centuries, but eventually things that are finite will always run out.
In contrast, a circular economy takes in goods at the end of their useful life cycle
and uses them as the raw materials to either recreate them or new products. The circular
economy is a relatively new system of operation, which aims to ‘close the loop’ and
design waste out of the system. It takes the idea of “reduce, reuse and recycle” to a
whole new level, in which manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and customers aim to
create a zero-waste supply chain.
There are thousands of recycling innovative ideas and projects in the world,
which are really effective, but now I want to highlight some of them. In my humble
opinion, these innovative ideas are ones of the most interesting and they may help solve
the waste crisis in the nearest future.
PLASTIC WASTE INTO ROADS.
The harmful environmental impact of plastic waste has been a massive issue for
years. However, MacRebur – the plastic road company has a solution: plastic roads.
MacRebur’s mission is helping to solve two world problems with one solution –
reducing plastic waste and improving poor road quality. Currently, our roads are made
of a product called bitumen, which uses crude oil, rocks, limestone and sand to create
the surface. MacRebur, however, will use their own innovative methods to replace the
crude oil element with plastic waste. This road construction process is extremely eco-
friendly, with no toxic gases being released.
One kilometre of road made with MacRebur’s plastic solution is said to use
around 684,000 plastic bottles or 1.8 million plastic bags. Although it is thought that
22 billion plastic bottles and 500 billion plastic bags end up in landfill every year,
plastic roads are a great start towards reducing plastic waste.
Considering the estimated total road length in Ukraine in 2018 was estimated to
be 169,5 km, you can imagine just how much plastic would be put to good use with
MacRebur’s new innovation!
FOOD WASTE INTO CLOTHES.
Globally, we waste about 1.3 billion tons of food, accounting for billions of
dollars. The amount of food that is wasted each year will rise by a third by 2030, when
2.1bn tonnes will either be lost or thrown away, equivalent to 66 tonnes per second,
according to new analysis. Besides, the fashion industry is said to be the second most
polluting industry on Earth after oil and gas. It requires enormous quantities of
resources, including water, land, and fossil fuels, to make fabric. Fortunately, more
people are becoming aware of these problems and create innovations to solve them.
Food waste is going to take over the fashion industry! It’s not a joke, your next
shirt really could be made from fruit and vegetable scraps. Circular Systems is a startup
that works to turn natural waste fibers into usable material. They describe themselves
as “a clean-tech new materials company, focused on the development of innovative
circular and regenerative technologies.” The company wants to turn banana peels,
pineapple leaves, sugarcane bark, and plant stalks into wearable clothes — and you
probably wouldn’t even notice they were made from food waste.
Innovative designers are looking for new, renewable resources for fiber, like
Italian-based company Orange Fiber, which aims to rescue some of the 700,000 tons
of orange peel that are discarded to create juice in Italy every year and transform it into
a soft fabric, ideal for clothes. The yarn was recently used in a collection by Salvatore
Ferragamo, the first fashion house to employ Orange Fiber yarns.
Also, one of the most famous fruit-based vegan leathers on the market, Piñatex,
is made from pineapple leaf fibers and has even been spotted on the red carpet of the
Met Gala in 2017.
E-WASTE INTO GOLD JEWELRY.
Today only about 13% of e-waste is recycled and at the same time up to 7% of
the world’s gold could be contained in discarded electronics. It is hard to believe, but
one ton of broken cell phones, computers or other electronic waste contains sixty times
as much gold as a ton of gold ore. Thus, nowadays electronic waste remains a largely
unused, yet growing, valuable resource. The practice of extracting valuable metals and
materials from electronic waste is urban mining.
For example, in 2018, Dell became the first PC manufacturer to use recycled
gold from e-waste in its products. Additionally, they partnered with actress Nikki Reed
to raise awareness of the importance of recycling old technology. Nikki and her
company, BaYou with Love, developed the Circular Collection, a jewelry line made
from gold recovered from Dell’s computer motherboards.
Conclusion. So, circular economy is a real challenge for our planet and for each
of us. I am really proud of people, who are deeply concerned about the future
environment and create such amazing ideas! I am sure, that all of these innovations
will help to solve the waste crisis and one day we will actually become a zero waste
planet!
https://nowthisnews.com/videos/food/circular-systems-plans-to-turn-food-
waste-into-clothing
https://hobi.com/from-electronic-waste-to-fashionable-jewelry/from-electronic-
waste-to-fashionable-jewelry/
https://www.delltechnologies.com/en-
us/microsites/legacyofgood/2018/environment/pioneering-the-use-of-closed-loop-
recycled-gold-in-our-products.htm
https://www.fastcompany.com/40584274/food-waste-is-going-to-take-over-the-fashion-industry
http://www.foodandfibersproject.com/food-waste-turned-into-fashion/
https://myenergi.com/2019/03/21/waste-pollution-are-plastic-roads-the-solution/
https://www.mywaste.ie/the-circular-economy/