Moving Toward a Cyclic Society

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Moving Toward a Cyclic Society
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Highlights of a Linear Production System
Extraction/Mining
Primary Processing
Secondary Processing
Tertiary Processing
Finishing/Assembly/Packaging
Distribution
Consumption
Disposal
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Problems with a Linear Production System

• At each step in the production process there are
  wastes being generated over 95 of the
  materials extracted for use in manufacturing
  durable products becomes waste BEFORE the product
  reaches the consumer (32 tons of waste for every
  1 ton of product!).
• At each step in the production process (and in
  transporting raw materials and partially finished
  products), significant quantities of fossil fuels
  are consumed.
• Also during each step large quantities of water
  are consumed and contaminated.
• On the left we have to keep going back to the
  well to extract more and more raw material.
• On the right we have to keep finding new places
  to dump regular solid waste and the hazardous
  wastes generated by many production practices.

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Results of Our Linear Production System

• The average American generates three times their
  body weight in solid, liquid and hazardous
  industrial wastes EVERY DAY.
• Over 17 billion catalogs are mailed to Americans
  every year 59 for every man, woman and child.
  Only 6 out of 42 catalog makers use any
  significant recycled content. J. Crew, Eddie
  Bauer and L.L. Bean are among companies whose
  catalog has NO recycled content. See Sears
  Catalog campaign.
• Every year we throw away 2 BILLION disposable
  razors, 30 MILLION cell phones, 18 MILLION
  computers, and 8 MILLION television sets.
• We throw away enough carpet every year to more
  than cover the state of Delaware.

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Alternatives to Linear Production

• Industrial Ecology designing an industrial
  system that operates like a natural system. Waste
  Food!
• Product as Service rather than selling a
  consumer a product, the manufacturer leases the
  service of the product to them.
• Design for Disassembly / Take-Back Programs /
  Cradle-to-Cradle consumer products should be
  designed to be easily disassembled after their
  useful life so that the 90 of useful material
  can be reused in a new generation of products.

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Industrial Ecology

• Industrial ecology connotes an industrial system
  that operates much like a natural ecosystem. In
  natural ecosystems, materials and energy
  circulate continuously in a complex web of
  interactions Microorganisms turn animal wastes
  into food for plants the plants, in turn, are
  either eaten by animals or enter the cycle
  through death and decay. While ecosystems produce
  some actual wastes, on the whole they are
  self-contained and self-sustaining. (Robert
  Frosch, 1995)

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The Problem with E-waste

• Two million tons of E-waste thrown away in the
  U.S. every year.
• E-waste still only 4 of the total volume of
  municipal solid waste, but accounts for 75 of
  the hazardous material in that waste (e.g. lead,
  cadmium, mercury).
• Computers lose value faster than any other
  manufactured product in history. Only 10 of old
  computers are recycled, and over 50 of American
  households have an old PC in their closet.

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Some E-waste poisons Africans

• E-waste still only 4 of the total volume of
  municipal solid waste, but accounts for 75 of
  the hazardous material in that waste (e.g. lead,
  cadmium, mercury).

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Product as Service

• Interface Carpet (a 1 billion multinational
  flooring company) a pioneer in this field.
• Developed idea of product as service. Customers
  dont buy carpet, they lease flooring service.
• As carpet tiles wear out (heavy traffic areas)
  they are replaced by new tiles. The old tiles are
  recycled and made into new carpet.
• Customer does NOT pay for the carpet or the
  installation, only an annual lease fee.

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Product as Service (continued)

• Interface Carpet now produces less carpet but
  employs almost twice as many people.
• In past five years, revenue has more than
  doubled, and profits have tripled.
• Interface has achieved a 90 reduction in raw
  material use by recycling old carpets. They have
  almost completely severed their link to the oil
  well at the front end, and the landfill at the
  back end.

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Design for Disassembly / Take-Back Programs /
Cradle-to-Cradle

• More and more American electronic companies are
  taking back their products after the consumer
  is through using it (HP, Dell and Apple all have
  computer recycling programs).
• For computer recycling programs, consumers
  register for the service on-line, pay a fee
  (15-35 is typical), and then have the computer
  picked up from their home. The fee is then offset
  by a rebate toward the purchase of a new
  computer.
• Three states Maine, Maryland and California
  now have laws that require manufacturers of
  electronic products to take back discarded units
  or pay for programs that allow consumers to
  return them to a recycling center.

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Design for Disassembly / Take-Back Programs /
Cradle-to-Cradle (cont)

• The European Union has gone even further. The
  Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE)
  directive took effect in August (2005).
• WEEE requires electronics manufacturers to take
  back their products when customers are finished
  with them (at no charge to the customer). The
  E.U. has banned sales of electronic equipment
  containing lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and
  brominated flame retardants.

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WEEE Man
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The only problem so far with some electronic
recycling efforts is that a lot of the waste is
ending up in Third World countries where it is
disassembled by hand and disposed of under
hazardous conditions.
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Outcomes of a Shift to a Product as Service /
Cradle-to-Cradle Economy

• Focus is placed on the SERVICE, not the PRODUCT
  itself, forcing changes in the way both customers
  and businesses perceive their product.
• Emphasis will be placed on durability over
  built-in obsolescence. Manufacturers will want a
  product to last as long as possible.
• Products will be designed for dis-assembly and
  reuse, move to MODULAR design (Panasonic TV
  example, Ford cars).
• Manufacturers will be forced to adopt a more
  cyclic way of thinking about their production
  process.
• Reduced extractive and processing activity
  upstream from the consumer, reduced disposal
  downstream.
• Employment shift from extraction/disposal
  industries to service, collection and
  re-processing industries.