Cities and the circular economy

Arup’s Biobuild project is a good example of material innovation in buildings. Using natural fibres from hemp, jute, flax, and natural resins derived from sugar cane, and corn, the project aims to create entirely non-toxic building facades known as ’biocomposites’. Arup’s 2017 report, The Urban Bio-loop: Growing, making and regenerating, states that,

The Plant, based in Chicago, is a collaborative community of food production businesses - all striving to find synergies between each other. The facility and community is a collaboration between the for-profit owner/developer Bubbly Dynamics, the educational non-profit Plant Chicago, and the dynamic community of food businesses co-located together in the 93,500 square foot facility.

A 2015 study estimated that each month the businesses in The Plant produce around 18,000 kg of materials, 40% of which were finished products and 60% byproducts. A material flow analysis over a three-month period found that 42% of the output materials from businesses were captured on site (mostly in the form of brewer’s grain). The Plant community is currently working on a system which allows them to repurpose and capture more value from byproducts – e.g. spent grain from the brewery is used as a growing medium for mushrooms. The Plant also collects food waste from nearby industries to feed into their anaerobic digester, which produces biogas that is used on-site.

Each year an estimated USD 100 billion worth of food is thrown away by the hospitality industry, mainly due to overproduction. Winnow has devised a simple way of collecting data on food waste in commercial kitchens, leading to better decision making in food preparation and increasing awareness in kitchen staff. The data generated correlates food waste to sales, directly connecting behaviour changes to increased profits. As a result, restaurants that use this system have cut food waste by between 40 - 70%, leading to increased profit margins of 50% or more, and the reduction of carbon emissions.

According to David Jackson, Head of Marketing for Winnow, one of the most important benefits of collecting accurate data is that “it gives businesses the confidence to go out and make public statements about reducing food waste.” The technology, for example, has given a huge company like IKEA, which serves 650 million meals each year, the quantitative basis to launch and monitor a campaign that aims to reduce food waste by 50% by the end of 2020.

The unexpected bonus? About 50% of workers involved in food production in IKEA have been inspired to reduce food waste when they return home.

Arriving on this London-based platform, you’ll be greeted with the words "Rent almost anything." Anyone can create an account and begin to list items, or rent other people’s belongings for a day or more. It’s free to list and browse, and Fat Lama takes a cut on each instance of lending and borrowing.

However, there are some smart tricks going on in the background to create a thriving network and to ensure it all runs smoothly. As well as customer support, messaging services, and ratings and reviews for lenders, every item is covered by a £25,000 insurance policy. So if an item is lost, stolen or damaged during the rental, lenders can be reimbursed via Fat Llama.

While Fat Lama’s lending marketplace has categories in sports, electronics, clothing, and much more, an early trend has been the rental of equipment for creatives. Professional cameras are popular, as are drones, studio lighting, and DJ equipment, offered not only by individuals but also businesses seeking extra income from assets not in use.

Users posting items like these for others to use are seeing a real financial benefit, with some earning up to £8,000 a month. This shows how innovative business models that redefine our relationship with ‘stuff’, can also open up new ways for people to participate in the economy.

As with other sharing economy examples, the attraction lies in being able to access and use items without the upfront costs, maintenance, and storage concerns that come with ownership. READ: find out more about the sharing economy and how it connects to a circular economy here. (circulate news article by Seb Read)

Fashion is big business. Globally, this 1.3 trillion dollar industry employs more than 300 million people, and from 2000 - 2015, clothing production roughly doubled.

But this kind of growth comes at an environmental and social cost. It puts a strain on natural resources, especially water used for cotton production, and leaks harmful plastic microfibres and toxins into the environment, polluting waterways and leading to ill health. Added to this is the short term use of many items. In China alone, 26 million tonnes of textile waste is thrown away each year with a reuse rate of less than 1%. Globally, one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or sent to landfill every second.

Y Closet is a Chinese company built on the idea of keeping clothing in use for longer. Essentially, this wardrobe in the cloud, allows customers to access a huge range of clothing options for a monthly fee, via a smartphone app. Y Closet deals with the pick up and delivery of clothing, and has partnered with a dry cleaning company to ensure garments are kept clean and in good condition. The company has observed that well made items can be reused up to 40 times.

It is worth noting, however, that customers can try different styles and choose to buy the ones they like at a discounted price. Sales currently make up to 30% of YCloset’s profit. This sales model reduces the likelihood of impulse purchase; but one may also argue that it could be a new way to further stimulate the conventional transaction model. Another concern is that repeated washing of poor quality synthetic clothing can lead to leaks of microfibres to the ocean.

A New Textiles Economy report estimated that, with our current linear system, 22 million tonnes of microfibres will be added to the ocean between 2015 and 2050, so we may end up eating our clothes through the food chain.

Described by Tom Szaky, CEO of recycling specialist, Terracycle, as a modern ‘reboot of the milkman’, Loop is an innovative new service that aims to eliminate packaging waste. Some of the world’s biggest companies, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Nestle, have teamed up with Terracycle to offer household collection of used product packaging for refilling, reuse, or recycling. Find out more here: https://loopstore.com/