Abstract
On a macroeconomic level, economic activity can be relatively inefficient in terms of use of resources and energy; it is, on the other hand, extremely efficient in terms of waste generation.
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Notes
Leaves of a tree drop and become nutrients for the ground that will nurture the roots of this same tree.
As an illustration, “some 65 billion tons of raw materials entered the global economic system in 2010–a figure expected to grow to about 82 billion tons in 2020” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2012, Towards the Circular Economy: Economic and Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition, p. 15, available at http://www.thecirculareconomy.org/, accessed on October 31, 2012).
See D. Bourg and N. Buclet (2005), “L’économie de fonctionnalité: Changer la consommation dans le sens du développement durable,” Futuribles, no. 313, Novembre, pp. 27–37.
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UNEP (2011), Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication–A Synthesis for Policy Makers, p. 18, available at www.unep.org/greeneconomy, accessed on February 10, 2013.
Concept developed by W. McDonough and M. Braungart (2002), Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, New York: North Point Press.
As an illustration, consider the enormous public health problems generated in some African countries by the massive reception of electronic waste that is burned, sometimes by children, to recover some materials without any protection (see, for example, http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1815, accessed on October 30, 2012).
Source: Interview with the CEO Christophe Aldunate.
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WWF-UK (2011) Green Game-Changers: 50 Innovations to Inspire Business Transformation, p. 88, available at http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/working_with_business/ green_game_changers/, accessed on February 7, 2013.
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Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy.
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For a list of all the products certified C2C, see http://c2c.mbdc.com/c2c/list.php?order=type, accessed on February 10, 2013.
Case developed based on information from Steelcase and documents of the C2C certification. The interested reader can find the LCA report of the Think Chair and C2C report at http://www.steelcase.com/en/products/Category/Seating/task/think/Documents/Environmental%20Product%20Declaration_04-0012421.pdf, accessed on October 30, 2012.
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Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy, p. 30ff.
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See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-mvfjyiao for a presentation of this innovative bicycle, accessed on February 10, 2013.
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See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEwG0nJpz2g (accessed on October 30, 2012) for a video presentation of the Green Kitchen.
W.C. Kim and R. Mauborgne (2005), Blue Ocean Strategy, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
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Dou, “Beijing Shengchang Bioenergy S&T Co,” p. 2.
Dou, “Beijing Shengchang Bioenergy S&T Co,” pp. 18–19.
Source: http://www.greensulate.com/ and WWF-UK, Green Game-Changers, p. 21.
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See https://www.facebook.com/villadechets for some pictures, accessed on July 11, 2013.
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WWF-UK, Green Game-Changers, p. 79.
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54. WWF-UK, Green Game-Changers, p. 48.
See http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/chinaaims-for-sustainable-development-20120712-21yg0.html; http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/china-devel opment-renewables-sustainability; both accessed on October 30, 2012.
UNEP (2011), Decoupling Natural Resource use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth, available at http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/publications/decoupling tabid/56048/default.aspx, accessed on July 11, 2013.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy, p. 8.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy, p. 66.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy, pp. 68 and 75.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2012), Towards the Circular Economy: Opportunities for the Consumer Goods Sector, available at http://www.thecirculareconomy.org/, accessed on February 8, 2013.
Idem, p. 8.
Idem, pp. 48–49.
Idem, p. 8.
Idem, p. 8.
Idem, p. 9.
Idem, pp. 10–11.
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© 2013 Christophe Sempels and Jonas Hoffmann
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Sempels, C., Hoffmann, J. (2013). Circular Economy: Transforming a “Waste” into a Productive Resource. In: Sustainable Innovation Strategy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137352613_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137352613_5
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