This article has been written by Prasanna pursuing a
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We are travelling for an important meeting! We run out of gas/fuel. Petrol stations are empty. No stock?
Imagine our communication devices have broken down, and no spares are available. A similar situation is automobiles.
Say we have no footwear to wear as rubber is not available.
Everywhere, we have a common situation: “Not Available “.
Why have we reached that situation?
We all have heard the word “Sustainability”. What does it say?
Leave something for tomorrow. Don’t consume everything today.
Leave something for the next generation.
Think of nature, the environment, the earth, the land, forests, water bodies, etc.
These are all needed forever, as long as the environment exists.
It means don’t deplete the resources today. Think of tomorrow.
Think of regenerative philosophy. Don’t buy, use, and throw.
Put the resources back into circulation. Think of zero waste and extend the life of products.
This is called the Circular Economy.
What is circular and why is the economy? Circularity means closed-loop manufacturing, a continuous process of less and less use of virgin materials and more and more use of the same materials and resources.
Why the economy? A circular economy provides great business opportunities to generate profit and contribute to society. It generates employment, helps the economy grow, and creates a greener society.
The basic motto is Zero Waste, which extends life longer than what is practiced in a linear economy.
The article focuses on the circular economy, its impacts both negative and positive, and business opportunities in recycling different consumer products. A detailed business model can be worked out for different products.
The circular economy is based on the principle of reuse and regeneration rather than use, throw and buy again and again. It aims at reducing the mining of virgin materials and sustainable business practices.
The products are manufactured with locally generated clean energy and made from sustainable, reproduced, and recycled or non-polluting biodegradable materials.
Circular Economy principally designs a product for longevity, not obsolescence and repair and reuse. The product life cycle is extended and not put to the grave.
The products are designed and manufactured to be in harmony with nature, not risking the lives of people and living beings.
Moving from a linear economy to a circular economy has many positive impacts.
Environment benefits: This helps in reducing the extraction of virgin materials and reduces generation of waste materials. A circular economy helps in preserving the natural resources and protects the environment and the ecosystem. This in turn leads to less deforestation, land degradation, air pollution, soil pollution and water pollution.
Human Health, Less Pollution: Circular economy minimises the release of harmful substances and pollutants in the environment that leads to clean air, water and soil. This also leads to improved public health and a reduction in diseases that are related to pollution.
Clean and green environments lead to good physical and mental health, promoting healthier communities.
Sustainability: A circular economy promotes resource efficiency and reduces the dependence on limited resources by increasing the use of already existing products.
The reliance on reuse, repair and recycling lessens waste generation, which leads to fewer landfills and also reduces the environmental impacts associated with it.
A circular economy also helps in preventing greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate protection. It reduces the emissions associated with the extraction, production and disposal of materials.
Business Opportunities, Employment Generation: When the economy system to a circular one jobs are created in industries which recycle, repair and remanufacture and the sharing economy helps in promoting sustainable economic growth.
Less expensive for consumers as products are designed for a long-lasting life span: Circular economy focuses on quality and durability, which provides consumers with well-made long-lasting products. Products that are designed for reuse and repair are generally more durable and can last longer than the regular ones.
Shift to service as a model and not own everything yourself: A circular model promotes service-based models, which means sharing. In this type of model, consumers access the products by sharing, renting or leasing rather than buying.
Circular economy saves money for the country by avoiding the extraction of virgin materials and avoiding landfills: Circular economy promotes reuse and recycling, which minimises the extraction of virgin materials and disposal of waste, which in turn saves money for the country because they don’t have to spend money on continuous extraction and also helps in preventing resource depletion and environmental damage.
While a lot needs to be done yet, government policies and private businesses need to come forward to invest in a circular economy model to reap a profit in the future.
This brings us to an important concept called “Cradle to Cradle “. What does it mean?
It is opposite to “Cradle to Grave”. What is born, product, or service cannot die or go to the grave.
It has to come back to circulation and be part of the economy. Continuous process of reuse.
This is what was and is being practiced in “Linear Economy.” Here, the product is used once and discarded. Again, a new product is purchased. The buying power of citizens in some parts of the world has destroyed our planet.
Not just buying capacity, but discarding of used materials has led to serious environmental disturbances like pollution, water pollution, air pollution, health disasters, and climate change.
The belief that “Not In Backyard” (NIBM ) has led to unbelievable movement of waste across the continents. Though there is a strict law called transboundary movement, it is hardly followed.
The waste from developed nations finds its way to not-so-developed countries in the name of charity.
The waste from developed countries is processed in less fortunate countries in a most primitive manner.
This has led to environmental issues, and the entire city is engulfed with smoke. Children are appointed to process the waste without adequate protection, leading to death and destruction.
Not everything is gloomy and lost.
We discuss the factors affecting the planet and how to get value from the waste. This shows the positive impact of waste management and the circular economy.
(Monetising the waste)
Waste recycling is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the world. India has always been a recycling country for centuries. We don’t throw away anything and accumulate old items, including newspapers, at home.
Of course, extending the life of products has its disadvantages; for example, an old refrigerator consumes more power than a new one. However, what is needed is a modern way of recycling without causing further pollution.
It is the fastest-growing and most hazardous waste in the world. Used electronics have been one of the main pollutants across the globe. However, proper recycling can yield precious metals like gold, silver, aluminium, and copper. However, recycling needs big investment and infrastructure as well as the flow of raw materials and legislation from the authorities. After all, electronics are made from precious metals and silica.
With good infrastructure and technology, electronic recycling is a real gold mine.
All of us are familiar with domestic waste that we produce and discard every morning to be picked up by the local municipal authorities. However, there is a huge business potential due to sheer volume.
The MSW contains plastics, paper, wood, and food waste. Each of these items has enormous business potential. These items can be separated and recycled separately. The biodegradable part of the waste can be used for biomethanation. The gas generated can be used for fire turbines to generate electricity.
Alternatively, the biodegradable part can be converted into compost and further processed to be used as organic fertiliser for agriculture.
Our consumption of plastic is very high, and plastic is one of the biggest contributors to ocean pollution, land pollution, drinking water pollution, animal deaths by choking, etc. Plastic harms the environment and the presence of microplastics in the human body, and plastic does not degenerate.
We use plastic daily from morning to evening to night, from toothbrushes to buttons on our nightgowns.
A complete ban on plastic is nearly impossible.
A typical plastic recycling business comprises collection, segregation, cleansing, size reduction, and melting.
Mixing and extrusion. The pellets of plastic can be reused in new applications of plastic.
Tetra Pack is synonymous with multi-layered packaging and liquid packaging. Tetra Pack is a multi-layered material with 3 to 6 layers of packaging. Tetra Packs cannot be recycled; however, they can be reprocessed, and materials can be recovered for other uses. If tetra packs are not reprocessed, they will not disintegrate for 1000 years and create all sorts of environmental problems, such as GHG emissions and the blocking of rainwater percolation. Tetra pack is made of 75% paper,20% polyethylene, and 5% aluminum. On processing the tetra pack is shredded and a lot of paper is exposed. Paper is converted to pulp. The pulp can be used to manufacture paper and used in newspapers, cardboard, etc.
The aluminium and polyethylene can be separated from each other and aluminum can be converted into sheets or new tetra packs.
Polyethylene can be converted into a refuse-derived fuel.
End-of-life vehicles constitute a very high percentage of waste generated worldwide. Worldwide, it is a big business. Even manufacturers are interested in setting up recycling units.
The steps involved are washing, dismantling, classification of components, shredding, bailing, pulverisation metal-nonmetal separation, and precious metal recovery.
From the separated parts, fairly new usable parts can be salvaged, refurbished, and returned to inventory as refurbished parts. There is a large market for old spares.
For older, used parts, the best way is to recycle them, recover metals, and use them in remanufacturing.
The engine is a great source of aluminium, and the catalytic converter contains platinum. The wire harness contains high-quality copper. The axle is a ferrous alloy of high quality.
Tyres are yet another large waste stream. The automobile industry’s largest ancillary is the tyre industry.
Tyre recycling involves rubber recycling and the extraction of steel and the rubber from waste tyres can be crumbled and can also converted into fuel. The steel wire around its rim can be removed by de-beading or cutting.
The rubber recovered can be used again in the rubber manufacturing industry. The tyre crumbs can be used in road building and making turfs or rubber blocks.
As of now, lead-acid battery recycling is a proven profitable business. However, dry-cell batteries are the future. Cell batteries, lithium-ion. With the advent of electric vehicles, the importance of recycling lithium-ion batteries has assumed significant importance. Recycling these batteries has a huge business value as they contain rare earth metals and are extremely valuable from economic and environmental perspectives.
Textile recycling is nothing but the recovery of yarn and fibre from worn-out and torn clothes. Every cloth that we wear is worn out someday. However, most of the worn-out clothes get shipped to developing countries rather than the recovery of energy. The textile, even after worn out, contains the same energy that was there at the time of production. So it’s necessary to recover the energy rather than selling at a cheaper rate. The fashion industry has a lot to answer as the aim is to push for newer designs, which are very frequently supported by big brands and industrialists.
Pre-consumer textile waste: The waste generated in manufacturing. That is before shipping to the consumer. Here, the waste is governed by a different set of rules as it happened inside the factory.
Post-sales Textile waste: Once it is shipped, the responsibility shifts to the brand owners and the consumers. How it is taken back, how it is recycled, and how it is resold, etc.
C&D is a waste stream generated during the construction and demolition of buildings, retrofit buildings, offices, etc. The construction in India is very high because of the demand for housing, space, etc. The lack of space in metros has made the developers go for the redevelopment of old buildings. These activities generate enormous amounts of debris; again, the lack of space/facility to dump the waste is a big concern.
The dumping facility is governed and controlled by local government authorities and is operated by private enterprises.
Cork is a natural resource that can be recycled easily and is made from the bark of an oak tree. Many by-products, like tiles, cricket balls, footwear, mats and furniture, etc., can be produced. Hence, we can avoid cutting more and more oak trees, less consumption of water, less transportation and less manufacturing waste. A further amount of carbon emissions is reduced.
The institutional intervention from policy formation, guidelines, implementation, incentivisation, awareness, and education is extremely critical to implement waste management and contribute to the circular economy.
The legislation and its implementation are the keys. Though a stick/penalty for polluting is not the solution, proper guidelines and guidance are the need of the hour.
Stricter implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), easy procedure to file the reports, extending the product scope, and strengthening the monitoring level is critical for the implementation.
Eco-friendly waste management starts at the local level, but many areas don’t have proper localised regulations.
Economic happiness is the key, apart from social responsibility. Encouraging start-ups by incentivising the business is vital. Not just legislation but technology know-how, lower taxes, and providing land at a discount are very important.
The skill level at local levels and the effects of informal recycling leading to health problems and destruction of the environment have to be planned through school curriculum at the school level (catch them young); making them aware early helps to spread the awareness. Many times, children are the best teachers. Include in the university curriculum, particularly technical courses.
When we recycle, we automatically reduce the mining, extraction of natural resources, the destruction of forests and landfills and leaching and water contamination.
When we recycle, say, electronic waste, we reduce the mining of precious metals. When we recycle paper or cork, we reduce the destruction of forests. Likewise, for every product life is extended by repair/recycling, we can save the earth by protecting the natural resources from extraction.
Energy is scarce. Very critical for our living. It takes much less energy to make products out of recycled materials than from raw materials. For example, recycling one glass bottle saves enough power to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
Recycling conserves energy and reduces carbon footprints and emissions. Reduction in carbon footprints helps in minimising methane release waste which has adverse effect on the environment.
Recycling brings communities together and helps people raise money for schools, hospitals, etc., for community living.
When people come together and raise awareness about recycling, it actually creates an impact on the people at ground level. Educating people about the benefits of recycling will also help future generations understand the importance of reducing pollution.
Recycling creates jobs such as sorters, drivers, mechanics, and more. This can only be possible if we introduce waste management techniques from the school level. Villages have plenty of resources and no jobs; teaching them about recycling and waste management will also lead to job generation.
A big business opportunity. Innovations, legislators, investors, and nature are all happy.
Next time, before you toss a plastic bottle into a thrash, sell your end-of-life electronic gadgets to a local scrap dealer, or throw your used clothes into a landfill, think and take a minute to ponder the following important benefits. As a responsible citizen, spread, educate, and implement them.
It all begins with you and me. If we can do it, it is possible. No law can make it happen if we don’t want to implement it. After all, it is our city, our country, our world, our nature, and our Earth. If we don’t do it, no one else can.
At the end of the article, it is evident that there is no substitute for the circular economy business model. In the interest of the environment, making it a business model is not far away. It is a question of time before we adopt and implement the business model in our daily lives. We, consumers and responsible citizens owe much to the planet we live on.
WE PLEDGE WE ALL WILL SAVE OUR EARTH/PLANET/ECOLOGY.
BELIEVE IF WE DON’T DO IT, WHO ELSE?
The post appeared first on .
This article has been published by .
Introduction
We are travelling for an important meeting! We run out of gas/fuel. Petrol stations are empty. No stock?
Imagine our communication devices have broken down, and no spares are available. A similar situation is automobiles.
Say we have no footwear to wear as rubber is not available.
Everywhere, we have a common situation: “Not Available “.
Why have we reached that situation?
We all have heard the word “Sustainability”. What does it say?
Leave something for tomorrow. Don’t consume everything today.
Leave something for the next generation.
Think of nature, the environment, the earth, the land, forests, water bodies, etc.
These are all needed forever, as long as the environment exists.
It means don’t deplete the resources today. Think of tomorrow.
Think of regenerative philosophy. Don’t buy, use, and throw.
Put the resources back into circulation. Think of zero waste and extend the life of products.
This is called the Circular Economy.
What is circular and why is the economy? Circularity means closed-loop manufacturing, a continuous process of less and less use of virgin materials and more and more use of the same materials and resources.
Why the economy? A circular economy provides great business opportunities to generate profit and contribute to society. It generates employment, helps the economy grow, and creates a greener society.
The basic motto is Zero Waste, which extends life longer than what is practiced in a linear economy.
The article focuses on the circular economy, its impacts both negative and positive, and business opportunities in recycling different consumer products. A detailed business model can be worked out for different products.
What is a circular economy
The circular economy is based on the principle of reuse and regeneration rather than use, throw and buy again and again. It aims at reducing the mining of virgin materials and sustainable business practices.
The products are manufactured with locally generated clean energy and made from sustainable, reproduced, and recycled or non-polluting biodegradable materials.
Circular Economy principally designs a product for longevity, not obsolescence and repair and reuse. The product life cycle is extended and not put to the grave.
The products are designed and manufactured to be in harmony with nature, not risking the lives of people and living beings.
Positive impacts.
Moving from a linear economy to a circular economy has many positive impacts.
Environment benefits: This helps in reducing the extraction of virgin materials and reduces generation of waste materials. A circular economy helps in preserving the natural resources and protects the environment and the ecosystem. This in turn leads to less deforestation, land degradation, air pollution, soil pollution and water pollution.
Human Health, Less Pollution: Circular economy minimises the release of harmful substances and pollutants in the environment that leads to clean air, water and soil. This also leads to improved public health and a reduction in diseases that are related to pollution.
Clean and green environments lead to good physical and mental health, promoting healthier communities.
Sustainability: A circular economy promotes resource efficiency and reduces the dependence on limited resources by increasing the use of already existing products.
The reliance on reuse, repair and recycling lessens waste generation, which leads to fewer landfills and also reduces the environmental impacts associated with it.
A circular economy also helps in preventing greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate protection. It reduces the emissions associated with the extraction, production and disposal of materials.
Business Opportunities, Employment Generation: When the economy system to a circular one jobs are created in industries which recycle, repair and remanufacture and the sharing economy helps in promoting sustainable economic growth.
Less expensive for consumers as products are designed for a long-lasting life span: Circular economy focuses on quality and durability, which provides consumers with well-made long-lasting products. Products that are designed for reuse and repair are generally more durable and can last longer than the regular ones.
Shift to service as a model and not own everything yourself: A circular model promotes service-based models, which means sharing. In this type of model, consumers access the products by sharing, renting or leasing rather than buying.
Circular economy saves money for the country by avoiding the extraction of virgin materials and avoiding landfills: Circular economy promotes reuse and recycling, which minimises the extraction of virgin materials and disposal of waste, which in turn saves money for the country because they don’t have to spend money on continuous extraction and also helps in preventing resource depletion and environmental damage.
While a lot needs to be done yet, government policies and private businesses need to come forward to invest in a circular economy model to reap a profit in the future.
Operating principles for the circular economy business model
- Reduce: Continually reduce the amount of natural resources used, the waste generated, the environmental damage done, and the amount of greenhouse gasses generated.
- Reuse: Build for durability, longevity, and packaging that can recirculate to new users.
- Remake: Repair, refurbish and remanufacture.
- Recover: Design for easy disassembly and repurposing of materials and develop well-designed reverse logistics and take-back programs.
- Renew: Use only renewable energy, use regenerative methods of production, and develop an environment that replenishes natural resources.
This brings us to an important concept called “Cradle to Cradle “. What does it mean?
It is opposite to “Cradle to Grave”. What is born, product, or service cannot die or go to the grave.
It has to come back to circulation and be part of the economy. Continuous process of reuse.
This is what was and is being practiced in “Linear Economy.” Here, the product is used once and discarded. Again, a new product is purchased. The buying power of citizens in some parts of the world has destroyed our planet.
Not just buying capacity, but discarding of used materials has led to serious environmental disturbances like pollution, water pollution, air pollution, health disasters, and climate change.
The belief that “Not In Backyard” (NIBM ) has led to unbelievable movement of waste across the continents. Though there is a strict law called transboundary movement, it is hardly followed.
The waste from developed nations finds its way to not-so-developed countries in the name of charity.
The waste from developed countries is processed in less fortunate countries in a most primitive manner.
This has led to environmental issues, and the entire city is engulfed with smoke. Children are appointed to process the waste without adequate protection, leading to death and destruction.
What is the solution: positive impacts and business prospects
Not everything is gloomy and lost.
We discuss the factors affecting the planet and how to get value from the waste. This shows the positive impact of waste management and the circular economy.
Mining the Gold
(Monetising the waste)
Waste recycling is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the world. India has always been a recycling country for centuries. We don’t throw away anything and accumulate old items, including newspapers, at home.
Of course, extending the life of products has its disadvantages; for example, an old refrigerator consumes more power than a new one. However, what is needed is a modern way of recycling without causing further pollution.
E-waste recycling
It is the fastest-growing and most hazardous waste in the world. Used electronics have been one of the main pollutants across the globe. However, proper recycling can yield precious metals like gold, silver, aluminium, and copper. However, recycling needs big investment and infrastructure as well as the flow of raw materials and legislation from the authorities. After all, electronics are made from precious metals and silica.
With good infrastructure and technology, electronic recycling is a real gold mine.
Municipal Solid waste (MSW)
All of us are familiar with domestic waste that we produce and discard every morning to be picked up by the local municipal authorities. However, there is a huge business potential due to sheer volume.
The MSW contains plastics, paper, wood, and food waste. Each of these items has enormous business potential. These items can be separated and recycled separately. The biodegradable part of the waste can be used for biomethanation. The gas generated can be used for fire turbines to generate electricity.
Alternatively, the biodegradable part can be converted into compost and further processed to be used as organic fertiliser for agriculture.
Plastic recycling
Our consumption of plastic is very high, and plastic is one of the biggest contributors to ocean pollution, land pollution, drinking water pollution, animal deaths by choking, etc. Plastic harms the environment and the presence of microplastics in the human body, and plastic does not degenerate.
We use plastic daily from morning to evening to night, from toothbrushes to buttons on our nightgowns.
A complete ban on plastic is nearly impossible.
A typical plastic recycling business comprises collection, segregation, cleansing, size reduction, and melting.
Mixing and extrusion. The pellets of plastic can be reused in new applications of plastic.
Tetra pack recycling
Tetra Pack is synonymous with multi-layered packaging and liquid packaging. Tetra Pack is a multi-layered material with 3 to 6 layers of packaging. Tetra Packs cannot be recycled; however, they can be reprocessed, and materials can be recovered for other uses. If tetra packs are not reprocessed, they will not disintegrate for 1000 years and create all sorts of environmental problems, such as GHG emissions and the blocking of rainwater percolation. Tetra pack is made of 75% paper,20% polyethylene, and 5% aluminum. On processing the tetra pack is shredded and a lot of paper is exposed. Paper is converted to pulp. The pulp can be used to manufacture paper and used in newspapers, cardboard, etc.
The aluminium and polyethylene can be separated from each other and aluminum can be converted into sheets or new tetra packs.
Polyethylene can be converted into a refuse-derived fuel.
Automobile recycling
End-of-life vehicles constitute a very high percentage of waste generated worldwide. Worldwide, it is a big business. Even manufacturers are interested in setting up recycling units.
The steps involved are washing, dismantling, classification of components, shredding, bailing, pulverisation metal-nonmetal separation, and precious metal recovery.
From the separated parts, fairly new usable parts can be salvaged, refurbished, and returned to inventory as refurbished parts. There is a large market for old spares.
For older, used parts, the best way is to recycle them, recover metals, and use them in remanufacturing.
The engine is a great source of aluminium, and the catalytic converter contains platinum. The wire harness contains high-quality copper. The axle is a ferrous alloy of high quality.
Tyre recycling
Tyres are yet another large waste stream. The automobile industry’s largest ancillary is the tyre industry.
Tyre recycling involves rubber recycling and the extraction of steel and the rubber from waste tyres can be crumbled and can also converted into fuel. The steel wire around its rim can be removed by de-beading or cutting.
The rubber recovered can be used again in the rubber manufacturing industry. The tyre crumbs can be used in road building and making turfs or rubber blocks.
Battery recycling
As of now, lead-acid battery recycling is a proven profitable business. However, dry-cell batteries are the future. Cell batteries, lithium-ion. With the advent of electric vehicles, the importance of recycling lithium-ion batteries has assumed significant importance. Recycling these batteries has a huge business value as they contain rare earth metals and are extremely valuable from economic and environmental perspectives.
Textile recycling
Textile recycling is nothing but the recovery of yarn and fibre from worn-out and torn clothes. Every cloth that we wear is worn out someday. However, most of the worn-out clothes get shipped to developing countries rather than the recovery of energy. The textile, even after worn out, contains the same energy that was there at the time of production. So it’s necessary to recover the energy rather than selling at a cheaper rate. The fashion industry has a lot to answer as the aim is to push for newer designs, which are very frequently supported by big brands and industrialists.
Pre-consumer textile waste: The waste generated in manufacturing. That is before shipping to the consumer. Here, the waste is governed by a different set of rules as it happened inside the factory.
Post-sales Textile waste: Once it is shipped, the responsibility shifts to the brand owners and the consumers. How it is taken back, how it is recycled, and how it is resold, etc.
Construction and demolition waste
C&D is a waste stream generated during the construction and demolition of buildings, retrofit buildings, offices, etc. The construction in India is very high because of the demand for housing, space, etc. The lack of space in metros has made the developers go for the redevelopment of old buildings. These activities generate enormous amounts of debris; again, the lack of space/facility to dump the waste is a big concern.
The dumping facility is governed and controlled by local government authorities and is operated by private enterprises.
Cork recycling
Cork is a natural resource that can be recycled easily and is made from the bark of an oak tree. Many by-products, like tiles, cricket balls, footwear, mats and furniture, etc., can be produced. Hence, we can avoid cutting more and more oak trees, less consumption of water, less transportation and less manufacturing waste. A further amount of carbon emissions is reduced.
Challenges in the implementation of the circular economy business model
Institutional
The institutional intervention from policy formation, guidelines, implementation, incentivisation, awareness, and education is extremely critical to implement waste management and contribute to the circular economy.
The legislation and its implementation are the keys. Though a stick/penalty for polluting is not the solution, proper guidelines and guidance are the need of the hour.
Stricter implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), easy procedure to file the reports, extending the product scope, and strengthening the monitoring level is critical for the implementation.
Eco-friendly waste management starts at the local level, but many areas don’t have proper localised regulations.
Economic
Economic happiness is the key, apart from social responsibility. Encouraging start-ups by incentivising the business is vital. Not just legislation but technology know-how, lower taxes, and providing land at a discount are very important.
Skill set and knowledge development and awareness
The skill level at local levels and the effects of informal recycling leading to health problems and destruction of the environment have to be planned through school curriculum at the school level (catch them young); making them aware early helps to spread the awareness. Many times, children are the best teachers. Include in the university curriculum, particularly technical courses.
Benefits of circular economy (reduce/recycle/reuse)
Protects ecosystems and wildlife
When we recycle, we automatically reduce the mining, extraction of natural resources, the destruction of forests and landfills and leaching and water contamination.
Conserves our natural resources
When we recycle, say, electronic waste, we reduce the mining of precious metals. When we recycle paper or cork, we reduce the destruction of forests. Likewise, for every product life is extended by repair/recycling, we can save the earth by protecting the natural resources from extraction.
Saves energy
Energy is scarce. Very critical for our living. It takes much less energy to make products out of recycled materials than from raw materials. For example, recycling one glass bottle saves enough power to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
Reduces carbon emissions
Recycling conserves energy and reduces carbon footprints and emissions. Reduction in carbon footprints helps in minimising methane release waste which has adverse effect on the environment.
Brings people together
Recycling brings communities together and helps people raise money for schools, hospitals, etc., for community living.
Educate people about the importance of protecting the environment
When people come together and raise awareness about recycling, it actually creates an impact on the people at ground level. Educating people about the benefits of recycling will also help future generations understand the importance of reducing pollution.
Creates jobs
Recycling creates jobs such as sorters, drivers, mechanics, and more. This can only be possible if we introduce waste management techniques from the school level. Villages have plenty of resources and no jobs; teaching them about recycling and waste management will also lead to job generation.
Sale of recycling machinery
A big business opportunity. Innovations, legislators, investors, and nature are all happy.
Conclusion
Next time, before you toss a plastic bottle into a thrash, sell your end-of-life electronic gadgets to a local scrap dealer, or throw your used clothes into a landfill, think and take a minute to ponder the following important benefits. As a responsible citizen, spread, educate, and implement them.
It all begins with you and me. If we can do it, it is possible. No law can make it happen if we don’t want to implement it. After all, it is our city, our country, our world, our nature, and our Earth. If we don’t do it, no one else can.
At the end of the article, it is evident that there is no substitute for the circular economy business model. In the interest of the environment, making it a business model is not far away. It is a question of time before we adopt and implement the business model in our daily lives. We, consumers and responsible citizens owe much to the planet we live on.
WE PLEDGE WE ALL WILL SAVE OUR EARTH/PLANET/ECOLOGY.
BELIEVE IF WE DON’T DO IT, WHO ELSE?
The post appeared first on .