Source: OCSE

5. Circular economy and waste


5.1 What is the circular economy?

Overconsumption is devastating our planet. In today’s consumer-driven culture, we buy a lot of things, we throw a lot of things away, and it’s putting immense pressure on our environment. We do not have unlimited resources, and we cannot continue our current patterns of consumption forever.

The circular economy is a new way of thinking about how we use resources. In a circular economy, materials are sustainably sourced, products are kept in use for as long as possible, and materials are recovered at the end of a product’s life to be re-used in new products.

The video below introduces some of the key concepts of the circular economy.

Source: OCSE.

The circular economy is about much more than just recycling. While it’s good to dispose of things responsibly, it’s even better not to have to dispose of something at all. The circular economy is about re-thinking waste throughout the entire lifecycle of a product.

The 9Rs of the circular economy

Growing up you may have been taught to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle.’ This basic idea has evolved into a more comprehensive list of circular strategies called the 9Rs. They can be grouped into three categories:

  1. Buy less: refuse, rethink, reduce
  2. Use for as long as possible: reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose
  3. Turn materials into something new: recycle

The graphic below shows how the 9R strategies can be applied at different stages in the lifecycle of a bike.

Source: OCSE.

For the circular economy to work, we need a fundamental shift in how our society operates. Governments, businesses and communities all have an important role to play.

Governments need to create laws and policies that encourage the circular economy. They also need to invest in effective waste management programs (for example, making it possible for everyone to compost their food waste rather than putting it in the landfill bin).

Donated clothes at Koomarri. Source: OCSE.

Businesses need to design products to last, use sustainable materials, and ensure their products can be taken apart and recycled effectively later on. At the moment, lots of products are made with cheap materials that break easily, are difficult to repair, and cannot be recycled. It is very hard to keep products from landfill if they are designed badly to begin with.

Communities drive behaviour change. Each of us can make informed choices around what we buy, how we use products, and how we dispose of them. Instead of buying something new every time we want it, we can:

  • Buy less, borrow or share
  • Buy products that are second-hand, durable and recyclable
  • Repair broken products and use them for as long as possible

Lots of community groups are embracing the circular economy in Canberra. Read about some great local examples of the circular economy in practice below.