Im Rahmen des Circular Futures Festivals vom 14.09-15.09.2022 hat Taival eine Podiumsdiskussion zu dem Thema „Circular Economy vs. Nachhaltigkeit – Sind alle kreislaufwirtschaftliche Ansätze nachhaltig per se?“ organisiert. Justus Kammüller vom WWF, Marina Proske vom Fraunhofer IZM sowie Max Marwede von Taival und vom Fraunhofer IZM haben eine große Bandbreite an Themen unter der Moderation von Michael Hanf, dem Geschäftsführer von Taival Deutschland, besprochen. Der Fokus der Diskussionsrunde lag auf der Ambidextrie zwischen dem Impact von kreislaufwirtschaftlichen Ansätzen und dem Einfluss auf andere Nachhaltigkeitsbereichen. In der Theorie und auf Meta-Ebene legen viele Studien Szenarien dar, wie die Kreislaufwirtschaft die Treibhausgasemissionen reduzieren, den Biodiversitätsverlust bekämpfen und die Gesundheit der Gesellschaft beeinflussen kann. In der Theorie werden viele positive Effekte herbeigeführt, die Umsetzung sieht jedoch nicht so trivial aus und Kompromisse müssen gefunden werden.
Durch Beobachtungen in der Praxis wird die Problemstellung deutlicher. Unternehmen begegnen regelmäßig Hürden bei der Auswahl der effektivsten Circular Economy Aktivitäten:
- Bei hohem Gebrauch von Recyclingmaterialien – und somit zirkuläre Materialen – wird Recycling als Option bevorzugt, obwohl es die letzte sein sollte.
- Die Zirkulation von Gegenständen und Materialen kann Transportwege erhöhen und somit auch CO2 Emissionen.
- Für ältere Produkte ist das sehr emissionsintensive chemische Recycling die einzige Methode, um Materialien wieder zu verwendbar.
- Die erhöhte Verwendung von biobasierten Materialen benötigt viele landwirtschaftliche Flächen und bedroht die Biodiversität und Lebensmittelversorgung.
- Unternehmen hängen fest in Silodenken für jeden Nachhaltigkeitsbereich und verpassen dadurch Synergieeffekte. Zusätzlich finden bestehende Impactmessungen und Maßnahmen unabhängig und separat voneinander statt.
- Standardisierte Bewertungs- und Messungskriterien fehlen, um dem Problem entgegenzuwirken.
Die Ansichten der Podiumteilnehmer:innen:
Die Panelist haben unterschiedliche Schwerpunkte und Hintergründe, die sich aber alle mit dem Thema wie Unternehmen und Produkte durch die Kreislaufwirtschaft nachhaltiger werden können, beschäftigen. Basiert auf den unterschiedlichen Expertenfeldern wurde die Problemstellung aus verschiedenen Blickrichtungen beleuchtet.
Marina Proske setzt sich mit Ökodesign, der nachhaltigen Gestaltung und der Umweltbewertung von Elektronik auseinander. Sie fokussiert sich auf die Perspektive der Ökobilanz und Produktanpassung, genauer auf die Umweltwirkungen der Produkte und deren Nutzung im gesamten Lebenszyklus. Marina sees the great challenge of the circular economy in the fact that compromises often have to be found. For example, an energy-intensive material in product design can increase stability and durability, but this increases the footprint in production but allows for a more circular approach and extends lifespan. Her perspective relates to the fact that too much attention is still being paid to the outer ring of the circular economy, to recycling, and too little to circular approaches in the use phase. The other aspects and measures of the circular economy (R-strategies) are not yet regularly considered as solutions.
Justus Kammüller is responsible for defining new sustainable concepts and strategic orientations for companies in the Economics and Markets department at the WWF. He has pursued the goal of making the concept of planetary boundaries applicable to companies. This was made possible by the development of the One Planet Business Framework. Justus then translated the framework to the topic of circular economy, in cooperation with Taival.Justus also emphasizes that the circular economy requires all stakeholders to adopt a new circular mindset. A new systems thinking is required for companies. Small-scale design of state measures are no longer expedient in a circular context with many starting and balancing points. It is relevant for consumers to consider how the circular economy influences consumer behaviour.
Max Marwede comes from the circular economy of critical raw materials and is concerned with curbing the demand for these raw materials, especially through recycling. Consequently, he focuses on product design for recyclable products and how such design approaches can be integrated into companies. Max emphasizes that there have been many circular design processes and suitable methods for a long time, but the application in companies is failing. This failure can most likely be attributed to the operational structures and strategies. Changing the structures and processes in companies is therefore essential. A hurdle for companies lies in the lack of cooperation between individual departments and especially with external partners.
Potential solutions and food for thought were discussed :
In the circular economy, circular design is at the heart of development. The design phase of the product can affect the footprint through material selection, energy efficiency and reparability. All phases are relevant in defining the final footprint, especially the use phase. Design approaches can positively impact the ability of products to be serviced, remanufactured , repaired and recycled. How high the final CO2 footprint of the product is ultimately depends on user behavior and whether the circular service offers have benefited. This always depends on the user group. An example where the design approach is well compatible with the use of the customer group is the Fairphone.
A few more practical examples:
- Kamupak, a Finnish company, makes reusable food containers in supermarkets that are used with a deposit system. The company has put a lot of effort into how the CO2 emissions related to the circular service can be reduced to a minimum. In conclusion, the containers were made of plastic.
- Houdini is a Swedish outdoor company. As part of its reporting, it looked at the effects of all materials on environmental factors – climate, land use, biodiversity, etc. Based on this, the materials with the lowest impact were selected. They show how systemic thinking works in companies. Since there is not yet a general KPI linking circularity measures with impact on each environmental factor, this definition must be carried out individually for each material.
- A car dealership in Berlin has been transformed into a mobility house. They combine repair, e-mobility and advice on mobility. You have chosen the right approach to transformation and have not only focused on materials, but have looked at and adapted the entire business model.
Possible levers that drive change and create framework conditions for agreeing on the topics:
Regulations:
Change must come from above, for successful and holistic implementation, the legislators and managers must drive it forward. Regulations with targets and process standards for the circular economy make the most sense on the legislative side. There are always new innovations, especially in the technology sector, so it makes no sense to regulate products that change again quickly. Consequently, processes need to be regulated to encourage circularity.
People:
The attitude of people and employees plays a major role. A company’s sustainability and circular economy rating shows that most companies are not very far advanced. However, this finding motivated the employees to become creative and to continue working. Enough people in companies are ready for change. All the necessary components that are required are already available.
Research:
The state of research on the issue of eco-design and the environmental impact of products also plays an important role. The topics of research have remained the same in recent years, for example the topic of recycled content and integration. What is new is that companies are showing more interest in doing this, with a focus on products and carbon footprints. As soon as the topics in research remain unchanged, they increase their complexity. For each new innovative product, the questions about repair, recycling and footprint have to be answered anew. Products are much more complex today than they were 30 years ago, so the complexity of repair solutions, for example, is increasing accordingly.
Closing word:
All the building blocks already exist, they just need to be brought together. In general, there is no perfect recipe. Creativity is required for the transition to a circular economy.
Unfortunately, the problem of the discussion cannot be solved in general with a KPI. As of now, it is relevant that when developing new circular products and services, all influences and effects on environmental factors are taken into account along the entire life cycle, especially the use phase. In addition, companies should rethink – from the transformation at product level to business model life.
At the private user level, it is important to ask where which impact is greatest. This includes three topics that can be optimized in everyday life and show a high potential for reduction: heating, nutrition and personal mobility.
Everyone, no matter what area of work they work in, can contribute to increasing sustainability. Everyone should ask themselves the question in which state the world should be passed on to the next generation. Actions and measurements should be based on this.
