Читать книгу Circular Economy For Dummies - Eric Corey Freed - Страница 88

The circular economy offers a lot for businesses and consumers. By incorporating the circular economy framework within a business structure — eliminating waste, keeping products in use for longer periods, and renewing natural resources, in other words — the company will have a competitive edge over businesses that are sticking with the aging take-make-waste model. Now, more than ever, consumers are interested in supporting businesses whose leaders care about their impact on people, the economy, and the environment. Additionally, by incorporating a circular process into a business model, the amount of raw material required to facilitate the production of products will drop to nearly zero.

Within a circular economy framework, products aren’t disposed of at the end of their useful life. Instead, they’re returned to the beginning of the lifecycle to be reclaimed, repaired, refurbished, or reintroduced. Eliminating the need for raw materials means that the cost of that raw material no longer needs to be represented in the sales price. In addition, by maintaining the material within the lifecycle for many generations of products, any cost fluctuations that may occur from the sourcing of raw materials are no longer relevant. So, what if the price of oil spiked overnight? Plastics are recyclable, and the business structure no longer depends on raw materials. Lastly, by instituting a product manufacturing process that prioritizes the development of durable materials, the focus of your research-and-development will follow suit and aid in the generation of new materials that last longer and can easily be reintroduced into the material lifecycle when they reach the end of their life.