Welcome to Evolveable Consulting’s comprehensive dictionary of essential circular economy terms! As circularity becomes increasingly crucial for businesses worldwide, understanding these key concepts is vital for staying ahead in the evolving landscape.
Circular Economy Dictionary: Introduction
In this dictionary, we have compiled 50 must-know terms to aid your journey towards a circular economy. These definitions will help you grasp the foundational concepts and strategies necessary for implementing sustainable practices in your company.
Core Concepts of Circular Economy
Circular Economy: An economic system aimed at eliminating waste and promoting the continual use of resources through principles such as regeneration, retention of value, and optimization.
ISO 59004: The essential standard within the ISO 59000 family, providing terminology, framework, and principles for the circular economy.
Circular Design: An approach to product design that prioritizes longevity, repairability, and recyclability to support circular economy principles.
Waste Hierarchy: A system that ranks waste management options according to their environmental impact, prioritizing prevention, reuse, and recycling over disposal.
Systemic Thinking: Emphasizes the interconnectedness of economic, environmental, and social systems.
Value Retention: Maintaining the highest possible value of products, components, and materials throughout their lifecycle.
Resource Optimization: Maximizing the utility and efficiency of resources in production and consumption processes.
Regenerative Practices: Activities that restore, renew, or revitalize their sources of energy and materials.
Practical Applications
Closed-loop Systems: Production and consumption models in which resources are reused, recycled, or repurposed, minimizing waste and resource extraction.
Industrial Symbiosis: The exchange of materials, energy, water, and by-products between industries to create mutual value.
Product-as-a-Service: A business model where products are offered as services rather than sold as goods, promoting shared use and extended product lifecycles.
Upcycling: Transforming by-products, waste materials, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or environmental value.
Downcycling: Converting materials into new products of lesser quality and reduced functionality.
Cradle-to-Cradle: A design approach that models human industry on nature’s processes, viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms.
Extended Producer Responsibility: A policy approach where producers are responsible for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products.
Reverse Logistics: The process of moving goods from their typical final destination to capture value or ensure proper disposal.
Innovative Approaches and Models
Biomimicry: An approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.
Circular Procurement: Purchasing products or services that follow circular economy principles, prioritizing reuse, repair, and recycling.
Sharing Economy: An economic model based on sharing underutilized assets, from spaces to skills to stuff, for monetary or non-monetary benefits.
Remanufacturing: The process of returning a used product to at least its original performance, often with a warranty equivalent to or better than that of the newly manufactured product.
Refurbishment: The process of returning a product to good working condition by replacing or repairing significant components.
Circular Business Models: Strategies that create, deliver, and capture value while maintaining products and materials at their highest value.
Material Passport: A digital set of data describing defined characteristics of materials in products, which gives them value for recovery and reuse.
Urban Mining: The process of reclaiming compounds and elements from products, buildings, and waste.
Circular Supply Chain: A system where resources are continually recirculated instead of being disposed of at the end of their use.
The R-Ladder Framework
- R0 Refuse: Avoid using or accepting products or materials that are not sustainable.
- R1 Rethink: Redesign products or business models for sustainability, e.g., improving energy efficiency.
- R2 Reduce: Minimize the use of resources, emissions, and materials.
- R3 Reuse: Extend the life of products and spaces by reusing them.
- R4 Repair: Fix products to extend their functionality.
- R5 Refurbish: Restore products to good working order.
- R6 Remanufacture: Rebuild products using a combination of reused, repaired, and new parts.
- R7 Repurpose: Use discarded products or parts for new purposes.
- R8 Recycle: Process materials for upcycling or downcycling.
- R9 Recover: Incinerate materials for energy recovery.
Analytical Tools and Metrics
Material Flow Analysis (MFA): A tool to quantify flows and stocks of materials in a system, helping to optimize resource use.
Circular Marketplaces: Platforms that facilitate buying and selling second-hand or refurbished products, promoting resource efficiency and waste reduction.
Eco-Design: Designing products with consideration for their environmental impacts throughout their lifecycle.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product’s life.
Industrial Ecology: The study of material and energy flows through industrial systems to improve sustainability.
Governance and Strategy
Circular Economy Indicators: Metrics used to measure the progress and effectiveness of circular economy initiatives.
Circular Economy Policy: Regulations and guidelines aimed at promoting circular economy practices.
Resource Efficiency: Using Earth’s limited resources sustainably while minimizing environmental impacts.
Sustainable Consumption: Using products and services that meet basic needs while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials.
Sustainable Production: Creating goods and services using processes that are non-polluting, energy-efficient, and safe for workers and consumers.
Circular Economy Business Models: Business models designed to create value by extending product lifecycles and keeping materials in use.
Circular Economy Strategies: Approaches and actions taken to implement circular economy principles, such as designing for longevity and enabling recycling.
Circular Economy Roadmap: A strategic plan outlining steps to transition to a circular economy.
Circular Economy Metrics: Quantitative measures used to evaluate the performance and impact of circular economy initiatives.
Circular Economy Standards: Guidelines and specifications developed to ensure products, services, and systems adhere to circular economy principles.
This comprehensive list of circular economy terms will help you navigate the complex landscape of sustainability and circular business practices. What would you add?
At Evolveable Consulting, we’re committed to helping organizations like yours transition towards more sustainable and circular models. Stay tuned for more insights and updates as we continue to lead the way in circular economy consulting!