― Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
It's common belief that less waste is a good thing. And to a large extent, it is; especially in our current 'take-use-waste' consumption model. We call this a linear design, and its pitfall is the waste component leads to no where but landfill and pollution.
The Circular Economy is regenerative by nature and is designed so that "waste" leads to abundance (as Braungart mentions above) and production doesn't come at the expense of resource depletion.
With coffee capsules, the common consumption behaviour is:
Take - Made using previous mined resources, mainly aluminium and oil (plastics)
Use - Enjoyed by the public
Waste - Thrown in the bin
We've disrupted this model with circular economy thinking by:
Curate - Nespresso™ compatible pods made from sustainable plant materials
Use - Enjoyed by the public
Re-circulate - Pod-to-Plant™ transforms used pods into organic fertiliser, as well as converts methane created in the composting process into electricity
Output Abundance - Organic Fertiliser used to grow thousands of plants, electricity used as a fossil fuel alternate for the city of Parramatta
Here's simple illustration to demonstrate the differences in circular vs linear thinking.
If you're more interested in the Circular Economy, we recommend these resources:
1. Ellen McArthur Foundation
2. Cradle-to-Cradle
3. Getting in the Loop Podcast
Photo by Michel Reyes on Unsplash
