ECONOMIA CIRCULAR: Mais valor, menos desperdício

SINOPSE

«The term ‘Circular Economy’ is becoming familiar to an increasing number of businesses. It expresses an aspiration to get more value from resources and waste less, especially as resources come under a variety of pressures – price-driven, political and environmental.  

Delivering the circular economy can bring direct costs savings to businesses, reduce risk and offer reputational advantages, and can therefore be a market differentiator -- but working out what counts as ‘circular’ activity for an individual business, as against the entire economy or individual products, is not straightforward.  

This guide to the circular economy gives examples of what this new business model looks like in practice, and showcases businesses opportunities around circular activity.  It also:

• explores the debate around circular economy metrics and indicators and helps you assess your current level of circularity, set priorities and measure success

• equips readers to make the links between their own company’s initiatives and those of others, making those activities count by influencing actors across the supply chain

• outlines the conditions that have enabled other companies to change the system in which they operate.

Finally, this expert short work sets the Circular Economy in a political and business context, so you understand where it has come from and where it is going».

Acabamos de ver o livro da imagem, de que se pode saber mais aqui. Aproveite-se a ocasião para ir mais longe quanto à Economia Circular. Assim:

 

Na União Europeia, Moving towards a circular economy. De lá:

«(...)

Turning Europe into a more circular economy means:

• boosting recycling and preventing the loss of valuable materials;
• creating jobs and economic growth;
• showing how new business models, eco-design and industrial symbiosis can move us towards zero-waste;
• reducing greenhouse emissions and environmental impacts.

As part of the circular economy package, the Commission also adopted a legislative proposal to review recycling and other waste-related targets in the EU and annex. Achieving the new waste targets would create 180 000 new jobs, while making Europe more competitive and reducing demand for costly scarce resources. (...). Leia mais. Em particular o relatório seguinte:

Disponível aqui.

 

«Scoping study to identify potential circular economy actions, priority sectors, material flows and value chains»:

 

«The circular economy is rapidly rising up political and business agendas. In contrast to today’s largely linear, ‘take-make-use-dispose’ economy, a circular economy represents a development strategy that enables economic growth while aiming to optimise the chain of consumption of biological and technical materials. A deep transformation of production chains and consumption patterns is envisaged to keep materials circulating in the economy for longer, re-designing industrial systems and encouraging cascading use of materials and waste. Although there are some elements of circularity such as recycling and composting in the linear economy (see Figure E1) where progress needs to be maintained, a circular economy goes beyond the pursuit of waste prevention and waste reduction to inspire technological, organisational and social innovation across and within value chains (see Figure E2). There are already several policies in place and activities underway that support a circular economy; however there remain a range of untapped opportunities, costs to be avoided and obstacles to be addressed in order to accelerate the move towards a circular economy in the EU. Against this backdrop, the European Commission (DG Environment) launched a Scoping study to identify potential circular economy actions, priority sectors, material flows & value chains. The study was carried out by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI), Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), BIO and Ecologic Institute between November 2013 and July 2014. The aim of the study was to provide an initial scoping assessment of potential priorities and policy options to support the transition to a circular economy in the EU. The study reviewed existing literature, identified potential priority areas for action where accelerating the circular economy would be beneficial and where EU policy has a particular role to play, and developed policy options for consideration across a range of areas».

E veja-se como o tema aparece disseminado, por exemplo, ver a WRAP.