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• The circular economy offers another possibility. It’s a model for long-term sustainability that focuses on three things, minimizing the number of resources that people use and throw away, reusing natural resources as much as possible and regenerating systems to restore the natural balance. 

• There are two principles of the circular economy, first is to create designs that write waste out of the picture, or at least minimize its presence and second is through the intentional reuse, remanufacture, and repair of materials and products, more materials stay in circulation and there is less need for new production.

• The circular economy seeks to reverse this trend by minimizing negative impact and using castoff organic material to support the earth’s healing process.

• Keeping materials in circulation is key to minimizing our dependence on non-renewable resources. At Miniwiz, we continuously look for new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in order to build a more sustainable, circular economy.

 

The world economy, as it stands today, is a linear model built on disposal. First, materials come from the earth. Then, manufacturers turn those materials into products. People use those products and get rid of them when they're done.

 

Most of that disposed-of material ends up in landfills and oceans. Out of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic produced since 1950, for example, only 30% is still in active use. The other 5.8 billion tons have become trash.

 

The circular economy offers another possibility. It’s a model for long-term sustainability that focuses on three things:
 

1. Minimizing the number of resources that people use and throw away 

2. Reusing natural resources as much as possible

3. Regenerating systems to restore the natural balance

This vision of balance isn’t far out of reach either. According to Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative, the global economy is already 8.6% circular, and that’s just the beginning. 

 

Organizations, governments, and private companies across the world are working to bring more circularity to the economy at all levels. Innovative recycling and upcycling ideas are showing people how humanity as a whole can “reuse to reduce,” minimizing the volume of natural resources taken from the earth by making the most of what we already have.

 

Designing Out Waste and Pollution

Design influences nearly everything that people make or use. To rethink our notions of design requires a systemic shift in how human beings interact with the world.

 

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, one of the global thought leaders in the circular economy:

 

“Traditional design approaches place a particular focus on considering and meeting the needs of the end-user. If we are to design for the circular economy, we need to look much wider than this, considering not only the user but the system within which the design will exist."

 

Shifting to circular design will be a major challenge, but a necessary one in order for a circular economy to be viable. If a design doesn’t account for the reuse of materials at the outset, it’s hard to step in and attempt to reuse them at the end of the cycle. That's why the first principle of the circular economy is to create designs that write waste out of the picture, or at least minimize its presence.

 

There are several ways in which industries are shifting to a more circular concept of design. These include:
 

• Designing products to be easily repaired or rebuilt

• Creating business models to facilitate materials sharing

• Choosing materials suited for reuse

• Using the smallest amount of material possible

• Developing products and systems that adapt to users’ changing needs

By committing to these design concepts, companies can make their creations more suited to a circular economy.

 

Consider the problem of children’s shoes. Manufacturers produce as many as 38 billion children’s shoes each year, each one requiring up to 60 different materials and 160 manufacturing processes. Children’s feet grow about half a shoe size every three months, so many parents end up throwing out four pairs of shoes or more per child, per year. That’s a lot of material going to waste.

 

In the UK, designer Thomas Leech is working to solve this problem with his company Shoey Shoes. Featured in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Design Guide, Shoey Shoes takes castoff leather from the fashion industry to create modular children’s shoes.

 

These shoes don’t get taken home, used, and discarded. Instead, families sign up for a Shoey Shoes subscription. They receive a pair of shoes sized for their child, then when the child outgrows the shoe, they send it back. The company disassembles the shoe and reuses the components, and the family gets a new pair of shoes for their growing child.

 

Similarly, at MINIWIZ, we are also contributing to this cause.  Last week, we shared how we leveraged design and innovation to produce sustainable solutions for PPE (plastic protective equipment) and other types of waste.  

 

Keeping Products and Materials in Use

In 2019, more than 92 billion tons of raw materials were extracted from the earth and processed. All of that processing requires energy, often non-renewable. The good news is that if we extend the lifespan of all products and materials, we can reduce both the amount of energy consumed and the volume of raw materials needed.

 

This is the second principle of the circular economy. Through the intentional reuse, remanufacture, and repair of materials and products, more materials stay in circulation and there is less need for new production.

 

Dutch company Fairphone is doing just that with one of the most problematic items in our current economy: the mobile phone.

 

The average cell phone user replaces their device every year and a half, and the vast majority of those materials don’t get recycled. Fairphone is looking to change that by creating durable smartphones that are easy to repair and have modular parts. That way, if a piece breaks, users don’t have to replace the entire phone. Fairphone also prioritizes recycled and sustainably sourced materials in its production.

 

Regenerating Natural Systems

Agriculture produces nearly 12% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions—more than the energy used for transportation and buildings combined. The circular economy seeks to reverse this trend by minimizing negative impact and using castoff organic material to support the earth’s healing process.

 

MyCorena is doing exactly this with its sustainable vegan protein, Promyc. The fungi-based meat substitute has a 60% protein content and a lower environmental impact than either meat-based or plant-based proteins. It’s a safe production ingredient that can be returned to the natural system.

 

Momentum Toward Circularity

The World Economic Forum estimates that the circular economy has the potential to generate $4.5 trillion in economic benefits by 2030. At Miniwiz, we’re proud to be a part of that movement by creating turnkey solutions out of trash, embodying the concept of reuse to reduce.

 

We’re using post-consumer trash to create many different kinds of upcycled consumer and commercial products, from phone cases and sunglasses to building modules like our Polli-Brick wall systems. We’re also addressing the e-waste problem through the creation of consumer goods like the Fibonacci Ceramic Set, made of 25% recycled iPhone screen glass. 

 

We’re even creating entire functional buildings from post-consumer materials, which we also distribute in their raw material form to help designers and builders implement circular economy principles.

 

Keeping materials in circulation is key to minimizing our dependence on non-renewable resources. At Miniwiz, we continuously look for new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in order to build a more sustainable, circular economy.

Interested in learning more? Come check out what we’ve been doing and get inspired to join the movement.

MINIWIZ Medium

Shoey Shoes by Thomas Leech, photo credit | Thomas Leech