making circular economy a reality: the circulytics tool
in sustainable design
“What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done” This simple statement is a true nugget of wisdom and has the widest applications, from personal productivity to company objectives. The transition from a linear to a circular economy is no different and it won’t happen until it can be properly measured.
This is why the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (the leading institution in promoting a circular economy) has created CIRCULYTICS, a tool to finally measure the progress of companies towards a circular business model.
Note: To know how this relates to interior design, jump to the end on the post. For more details about how circularity is measured just keep reading.
what is circularity?
Both sustainability and circularity are concepts we’re only now starting to become more familiar with. They’re not the easiest concepts though.
What makes a product sustainable? What is a circular business model?
To start with, the answers to these questions include a variety of different aspects (raw materials, production processes…). To make things messier, these aspects are not always easy to track from the outside (for instance, how do we know if a company uses renewable energy?). And if all this wasn’t enough, some companies are now trying to show they care about sustainability when in reality they’re just muddying the waters (the so-called greenwashing).
In this jungle, it’s important to start making some clarity. And that’s where CIRCULYTICS comes into play.
bringing some clarity: the circulytics tool
The 3 pillars of a circular economy are:
- design out waste and pollution
- keep products and materials in use
- regenerate natural systems
With this in mind, CIRCULYTICS analyses all the actions of a company – from strategy to production – and comes up with a comprehensive circularity score.
In particular, circularity is seen as a combination of two types of factors:
- enablers: the prerequisites that allow a company to start moving towards a circular economy model.
- outcomes: the raw materials & energy used by a company and the products/services it produces.
the enablers of circularity
In order for a company to even start moving towards a circular model, a few elements need to be in place:
-
STRATEGY AND PLANNING Maybe trivial, but essential, the move towards a circular economy needs to be among the company’s priorities.
-
PEOPLE AND SKILLS The company needs to raise awareness of circular economy through the organization (eg. offering training), promote its adoption and create dedicated roles in the organization.
-
SYSTEMS, PROCESSES AND INFRASTRUCTURE The company needs to be equipped with software and tools that make it possible to think circular. This includes tools to track materials or simulate new designs for existing products.
-
INNOVATION Circular design needs to be at the heart of product/process development. This starts by choosing materials that are not harmful to people & the environment. And it continues designing products that can be refurbished, repaired, and disassembled for recycling. Another example would be transforming products into services.
-
EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT The meaning and benefits of circular economy also need to be communicated and supported out of the company itself. This includes initiating a discussion with suppliers, customers, policymakers and investors.
the outcomes of circularity
Once the Enablers are in place, a company can start designing and offering products/services that truly support a circular economy model. In particular this relates to:
-
INPUT Using renewable sources of energy and sourcing more sustainable raw materials (eg. waste and by-products, recycled materials, virgin materials coming from sustainable and regenerative sources)
-
OUTPUT Measuring the total amount of waste generated by the company and promoting initiatives aimed at recirculating products and materials. This includes designing products that last, introducing take-back/refurbishing programs, and recycling.
circular economy & interior design
Last but certainly not least, you might now be wondering how this relates to interior design.
As a matter of fact, the interior design industry generates a lot of waste from a lot of different angles including:
- poorly made furniture that doesn’t stand the test of time and can’t be repaired
- materials that are harmful to people & the environment and /or can’t be recycled
- impulsive purchases of trendy items that are soon discarded
And the list could continue… But this situation would change if circular economy were the norm! And a circular economy model can be applied to interior design in many ways:
- quality products that are made to last
- easy-to-disassemble products that can be repaired / whose materials can be reused for new products
- beautiful products made out of recycled materials, waste…
- production powered by renewable sources of energy
- leasing schemes allowing customers to rent products instead of buying them
- and many more…
These days, the interior design industry (and many others actually) is just starting to scrape the surface of more sustainable products & processes. So you probably won’t find any perfectly sustainable/circular company out there.
But it’s still important to start identifying and supporting the companies that are trying to make a change, and tools like Circulytics can help to navigate through the crowd of sustainability claims! Because the market always offers what consumers demand. And choosing more sustainable products is the only way we can hope to see more and more of them on the market!
Cover image by @aaronburden
