Make-Use-Return Consumption for Sustainability
Rapid population growth, urbanization, the rise of the global middle class – these trends have driven a threefold increase in the consumption of the earth’s natural resources over the past 40 years. At the going rate, the depletion of natural resources could derail social and economic progress unless we adopt more efficient, sustainable methods of consumption. For many, the solution lies in the Circular Economy.
Global gross domestic product has doubled since 1970, delivering tremendous social progress and lifting billions of people out of poverty. Nearly half of the world’s population is now considered middle class, and the quality of life has improved in virtually every part of the world, with developing nations quickly catching up to their developed peers.
The global middle class is tipped to grow by 160 million people per year through 2030. This is the most rapid global expansion of the middle class that the world has ever seen. As the population grows and people become more prosperous, the world’s cities will also grow. By 2050, around 70% of the global population will live in urban areas, up from 55% today.
The Cost of Progress
While the world continues to benefit from social and economic progress, growth comes at a cost: Our take-make-dispose economy is built on the relentless demand for natural resources. Current patterns of linear economic activity depend on a permanent throughput of materials that are extracted, traded and processed into goods and later disposed of as waste or emissions.
“The world is currently experiencing several imbalances,” Dr. Suvit Maesincee of Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, said at SD Symposium 10 Years: Circular Economy – Collaboration for Action, an event organized by Siam Cement Group (SCG). “First, there is an imbalance between humans and nature, and this is the reason behind instability such as the ongoing levels of environmental degradation. Secondly, there is an imbalance in terms of economic and social inequality. Finally, there is an imbalance between humans and technology.”
Fossil fuels, metals, minerals, biomass from agriculture, forestry, fisheries – current consumption methods have put the entire spectrum of natural resources to the test. The annual extraction of materials grew to 92 billion tonnes in 2017 from 27 billion in 1970. Assuming the continuation of historical trends, resource extraction could reach 190 billion tonnes by 2060 putting substantial stress on global resource supply systems and incredible pressure on the environment.
“With an ever-growing population, the world is expected to reach an estimated 9.7 billion people in 2050, resulting in rising consumption demands despite finite resources,” Roongrote Rangsiyopash, President and CEO of SCG, said at the symposium. “Along with the ever-changing climate and environment, this will cause greater resource scarcity. What would happen if one day we have an insufficient water and food supply? This has become a critical issue that the world is struggling to avoid.”
Conserving Resources the Circular Way
The overuse of natural resources has led businesses and governments around the world to consider smarter, more sustainable methods of production and consumption that retain the value of input materials, limit the environmental impacts, reduce costs and create economic opportunities. To succeed, they must embrace a shift from linear to circular flows through a combination of extended product life cycles, intelligent product design, reuse, recycling and remanufacturing.
“This is why we are discussing the Circular Economy, as it concerns the efficient management and consumption of limited resources,” Mr. Rangsiyopash said at the symposium. “We must monitor the change in consumption behaviors and, although collaboration is crucial, the more important factor begins with ourselves.”
Over the past year, SCG developed the SCG Circular Way – a forward-thinking approach to tackle challenges stemming from resource depletion by incorporating Circular Economy principles into its business activities. There are three key three strategies at the heart of the SCG Circular Way: reduce resources use in manufacturing and develop products with extended usage duration; make existing products and raw materials recycle-friendly or replace them with new ones that offer higher efficiency while minimizing resource usage; enhance recyclability and develop products with a higher proportion of recycled materials.
SCG is also intent on encouraging other companies to adopt Circular Economy principles. To facilitate that transition, the company brought together 45 partners from the government, public sector and private sector from Thailand and abroad at this year’s SD Symposium. Together, they brainstormed on ways to use the Circular Economy to overcome the crisis of resource constraints and forge collaboration across all sectors.
While the Symposium helps to facilitate new partnerships, a lot of collaboration is already underway. SCG is one of 14 founding members of Circular Economy in the Cement Industry (CECI). The group aims to embed Circular Economy principles into the construction sector with an efficient closed-loop network covering the entire process from production to recycling. Elsewhere, SCG joined Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging to facilitate the development of eco-friendly, sustainably-sourced packaging. Moreover, its chemicals business has launched a clean-up to reduce ocean plastics in collaboration with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW)
“Building a Circular Economy must be enacted in a timely manner due to resource degradation and the inability to keep up with restoration efforts,” a representative for United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, said at the symposium. “The Circular Economy can’t be achieved without the collaboration of the government, the business sector and civil society… Today’s symposium attests that the world and all its inhabitants must move forward together.”
