The 3 R’s of Circularity

The circular economy is a topic that comes up quite a bit in sustainability. Though the terminology might be new the concept has been around for a long time. I remember as a kid there was a popular “recycle, reduce, reuse and close the loop” jingle. Luckily, the songs used to educate children on this topic have come a long way since then, even though the concept is still the same. We all get the basic concept of circularity as it applies to our own actions but what is the circular economy all about?

The circular economy is an alternate approach to growth, a definition in which growth isn’t fueled by the consumption of limited natural resources, and where waste isn’t generated as a byproduct. Rather circularity is focused on reduction, reuse and recycling. Each of these components is very important and linked. Reduction or not making a product in the first place is the most impactful. Reuse is the second most impactful, if you have to have it make sure you can use it more than once, and recycling is the last resort if you have to have it and can’t reuse it make sure it is disposed of properly and hopefully gets repurposed into something else rather than ending up in a landfill.

Unfortunately, many of our cultures buying habits are very wasteful, with cheap products that designed to be used once and discarded being the norm. This is a major challenge to circularity. How do you convince enough people that it is better for the environment and cheaper in the long run to buy a reusable water bottle than to buy a case of single use water bottles every week? I’m sure there’s a jingle for that. This is not to say that there hasn’t been progress, recycling is increasingly the norm whether its in your hotel room, at your home or in the garbage receptacle on the street. While recycling is great, as we know it’s the last resort of the three R’s and may even be creating the illusion that its ok to consume single use products.

So enough doom and gloom, let me now mention a couple of examples of circular business practices. After all circularity is often a good investment, as it reduces costs. For those of us in the hotel and restaurant business, Ecolab is a household name. Providing cleaning solutions particularly in laundry and dishwashing are some of Ecolab’s core businesses. Ecolab has redesigned its equipment to be exceedingly water saving, and to reuse water. Many hotels and restaurant have also embraced companies that provide biodegradable and compostable to-go cups, cutlery and packaging.

These are just a couple examples. How do you or your business participate in circularity?