The circular economy plan
EU institutions, agencies and companies are increasingly raising awareness on the circular economy agenda. Studies find that there are a number of opportunities as well as challenges for the successful planning, organization, implementation, and measurement of circular economy practices for sustainable supply chains in Europe.
The circular economy fosters sustainable production and consumption behaviour’s as adopters improve their operational efficiencies and reduce waste. The circular economy term is usually associated with recycling and/or better waste management systems. But ensuring the adoption of design for recycling guidelines (upstream, in the waste hierarchy) is as important as achieving the sorting and recycling required capacities (downstream, in the waste hierarchy) in order to increase material efficiency along these value chains.
Not too long ago, governments were not introducing hard legislation to trigger companies sustainable production and consumption behaviours’s as this could impact on the businesses' prospects. And businesses were only intrigued to engage in the circular economy if it added value to them, in terms of the economic return on investment, process improvements, and product benefits. If the effort of changing or upgrading practices was not enforced or found beneficial, businesses were not up to mitigate their externalities, including their emissions or unwanted waste.
So, why is the circular economy, whitin a few years, so prominent in responses to environmental crises? Despite the potential of circularity, those recirculated materials make up only about 20% of the chemical industry and therefore we must realize its limited impact compared to other options, it is on the other hand, a great way of turning the crisis into an opportunity.
Circularity remains a contributing element to decarbonize the industry, and companies are showcasing their efforts to gain public legitimacy in their journeys to climate neutrality. Moreover, the circular economy offers something grander yet more nebulous than other corporate sustainability discourses: a technological fix to “take-make-waste” models of industrial growth, without actually giving up on growth, particularly in the case of the circular economy for plastics.
Beyond the marketing benefits, the circular economy is making collaboration efforts across value chains happen at a speed and extension never seen before. And policy makers can possibly provide the right infrastructures, resources, and capabilities in terms of logistics, supply, distribution, training, et cetera, to industry. The development of clusters may result in less dispersed value chains, economies of scales and scope, as well as improved operational efficiencies in manufacturing and logistics. Circular economy and clusters development are key to move towards a more circular economy.
The chemistry behind:
Starting with the product passport
A circular economy will look to chemistry to provide the basis of innovative products, made from renewable feedstocks and designed to be reused, recycled, or the feedstock renewed through natural processes. Governments and corporations are increasingly adopting circular economy strategies. However, the world economy is far from being circular, with some of the reasons including lack of transparency, standardization, and data sharing. Digitalization can help overcome these challenges, thus making it a key enabler of the circular economy. Digital product passport is one of the tool for implementing and scaling the circular economy.
And re-considering the risk management in the process
Do we have the appropriate risk management tools to control any risks that might arise from the re-using and recycling of materials?
Newly formed circular economy chains may create greater complexity in the risk management of re-use or recycled waste streams.
REACH was set up to take into account the potential risks during the entire life cycle of chemicals, including the waste phase, but, in practice, the focus has been on the production and use stages of substances. Circular and bio-based chemistry initiatives interlink with the REACH regulation. That is one of the reason why the REACH revision is part of the a three-part roadmap, on its regulatory component, being an enabler for the Transition Pathway of the chemical industry.
