Examples of Circular Economy: Fashion, Business Model, and Social Movement
Clothes that grow with your kid, a social movement that emphasizes ‘not buying’, and buying light without purchasing lighting equipment are some examples of innovation and circular economy. In the previous post, Introduction to Circular Economy — With Examples, we saw Fairphone, a product and company that exemplifies circular economy from a product design and supply chain perspective. In this post, we look at examples of circular economy in fashion, business models, and social movement.
(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this post. I just liked them as examples; they make for an easier understanding of the applications of circular economy).
1. Fashion: Clothes that grow with kids
Background: Over 15 million tons (equivalent to 300 Titanics) of post consumer textile waste is generated in the USA every year, in recent years. The main reason for this waste is thought to be fast fashion garments. These are garments that are quickly made as per latest styles and trends, are cheap and go out of fashion with the season. Because the style keeps on changing, people tend to buy more and more clothes that are in-fashion without much expectation that they will last. A typical fast fashion garment is constructed so that it lasts no more than 10 wearings.
An Example of Circular Economy
‘’Oh! They grow up so fast”, is a very common statement new parents hear from people with older kids. However, the kids outgrow their clothes faster. Which means parents have to keep shopping for new clothes — which involves effort and money! What if the clothes grew with the kid? Petit Pli, a wearable technology company based out of London makes garments that can grow 7 sizes.
The company uses 100% recycled polyester material to make their pleated garments. The pleats open as a kid grows, however they can be reset by a horizontal tug. The company promotes its garments as rain proof, windproof outerwear. The fabric has a monofibre construction making it easy to recycle at the end of its life.
The company thus REDUCES WASTE by using recycled materials and improving the LONGEVITY of its products. The material can be easily recycled, thus KEEPING IT IN USE.
My Notes: Petit Pli clothes are outerwear and have a unique look and feel because of the pleats. However,if the principle of ‘Clothes that grow with the kids (or adults too ;))’ is to be applied, one of the simplest methods is to keep a margin of an inch on both sides of a garment. Such margins are usually present in tailor-made dresses, to get the perfect fit and to accommodate some change in size (height/girth). The other option for longer lasting clothes, apart from good quality material and build, is to provide easily accessible and affordable clothes alteration facilities where people can mend their clothes for prolonged use. This will also help generate employment opportunities.
2. Business Model: Buying light without purchasing the lighting equipment
Background: When a light bulb whether LED, CFL, or incandescent stops working, it is either trashed or dropped off at a collection center. If an LED luminaire stops working, often it can be easily repaired by replacing a part like the LED or by simply soldering a few connections, thus extending its life. However, lack of spare parts or skills results in discard of these resources (in western Europe, it is estimated that only 10% of the discarded luminaires are recycled). For one faulty part, all other fully working components also end up as waste.)
An Example of Circular Economy
To make a long lasting luminaire with high quality components is expensive. Often a small repair in such luminaires leads to even longer life. However, availability of spares and skills are hard to find or it is an inconvenience for the customer. So Philips, a company that traditionally sells lighting equipment, experimented in its business model and changed it from ownership based to service based. This means that the customer pays only for light and does not own the lighting equipment. The case in consideration is Philips’ ‘light as a service’ for Netherlands’ Schipol Airport’s Lounge 2.
Philips designed and manufactured the lighting equipment and partnered with Cofely to maintain and service the equipment at the Schipol Airport. Thus the airport pays for the light produced, while its two partners Philips and Cofely remain the owners of the lamps and fittings.
As per Anton Brummelhuis, Senior Director of Sustainability, Philips Lighting, “This innovative type of relationship permits to ensure that the client (Schiphol) receives the necessary service (lighting) while ensuring that the physical support for the service is not simply discarded after a first usage.”
With the new business model, it is economically less stressful to make high quality equipment that is designed for easy disassembly and repair. The maintenance cost for the airport lounge is declining and the life of the fittings is extended by 75%. Moreover, lamps are collected for recycling purposes at the end of their service life and the fittings materials can be reused. Thus the company has been able to MINIMIZE waste and REDUCE raw material consumption by keeping materials in the loop (or recovering materials for reuse).
My Notes: This seems to be a win-win situation for customer, company, contractor, and planet (we do not have exact numbers to say it for certain, but this seems to be the case based on content available on the airport’s website). The change in business model from ownership to service or lease seems to have a lot of potential not just for lighting equipment but also for other products like computers, automobiles, or solar panels. Because the ownership of the product lies with the company and not with the customer, the companies are more likely to build long lasting products and less likely to build in planned obsolescence. Repair and maintenance work, if subcontracted (which is a very common practice in some areas even today), has high potential for new entrepreneurs and creating job opportunities. Retrieving the products at their end of life is also easier when the product is owned by the parent company.
3. Social Movement: You need not buy what you want. Just ask for it!
Background: 31.9% of food is wasted in an average American household. An average American throws away 37 kg of clothes every year. Also thrown away are toys, art supplies, Halloween decorations and costumes, kitchenware, electronic devices, furniture pieces, gardening tools and materials, jewelry, artifacts, sports equipment, and more.
If we look in our own homes, we may find a lot of things that are just sitting on a shelf, unused for months or years. From food ingredients to hobby materials, we buy these items with a lot of enthusiasm but they are left underutilized because of lack of time or fading interest. Or sometimes we need things in small quantities but have to buy more because of bulk packaging and at that time often a thought crosses our minds: What if I could share it or give it to someone who can use or appreciate this sharing? How do we connect the giver with the taker?
An Example of Circular Economy
To answer the above question, two friends from Washington State, USA started an experimental group called Buy Nothing in 2013. In this hyper-local group hosted on Facebook, involving neighbors and local residents, people post things/services they want to give away, or what they want to buy or borrow or things they want to share. All this is completely without money — it’s simply a gift. Today there 3.5 million participants from 44 Buy Nothing groups worldwide. If you want to be a part of this movement, look for the group in your city. If the group does not exist, you can start one by using the open source tool kit provided by the Buy Nothing Project and following their simple rules:
“Post anything you’d like to give away, lend, or share amongst neighbors. Ask for anything you’d like to receive for free or borrow. Keep it legal. No hate speech. No buying or selling, no trades or bartering, we’re strictly a gift economy.”
My Notes: I am a member/user of this group in my city. Everyday, I see things and services finding a new home and a new purpose. The group has not just facilitated REDUCING WASTE by promoting the REUSE of products but has made strong connections between people and their community. From the posts that I see, it is clear that people in this group are not posting simply to get rid of stuff, but rather want to thoughtfully pass it on.
End Note: We cannot solve a problem by using the same thinking that has created the problem. If we start looking at products, business models, and social movements from a new perspective, or a new way of thinking, then new solutions that are beneficial for people, planet, and profits are just round the corner.
In the next post we will look at examples of circular economy in construction, software, law and policy, and communication and advertising.
