A circular world: Bringing a sustainable economy to the forefront of people’s lives
With an increase in sustainable products for the mass market, the future seems greener than it has been for decades — even centuries.
There is a new tide coming in, and it is one that is likely to transform your household items — maybe even fashion items — and perhaps even without you noticing any remarkable difference.
Imagine this: In a few years from now, you are on your way to another day at the office. You have packed your sustainable bag — which in fact is made from cellulose fibres. You don’t think much about how this fabric only a few years earlier would have made you raise an eyebrow, as most of your previous bags have been made of either plastic or leather. Getting into your car, you interact with a lot of tech systems you may or may not have considered the origin of. In a sustainable world, it is likely that both the tech systems and the plastic interior indeed are recycled from other products — such as other tech devices and food wrappings. Some of the plastic might even have been plastic waste found in the oceans.
Getting to the office, your car passes by the harbour where big containers are getting ready for transport. They are all wrapped in reusable transportation packaging — gone are the years of only using packaging once before it is thrown away. You ponder this for some time; what an odd world that was! You cannot remember the last time you bought a household item only for brief usage — during the recent summers, you have rented all your gardening tools online. You have even gone into the habit of renting clothing, which is convenient for both you and your economy. Clothing you had not seen for years resurfaced from the depths of your wardrobe once you cleaned out your closets — and once you started renting new outfits instead of buying them. And in any case — most of your new clothing is made from plant fibres, damaging the nature far less than the clothing you had before.
At the office, there are lunch meals offered from a variety of local restaurants. All the meals are made from products that are close to their expiration date, and while you eat you think of all the food you threw away in the past — in the false belief it wasn’t edible. And while you eat you look at the vintage plate and coffee mug on your table, and think of the similar — in your case, rented — kitchenware you have at home.
The LOOP webinars
One of the organizations that are working to implement a circular economy in our world, is LOOP. With a community and a mindset tuned in to making lasting change, LOOP help startups and corporations create sustainable solutions for the future. The organization is based in four countries: Antrop (Sweden), Avanto (Finland), Agens (Norway), ArtRebels (Denmark), and Startup Norway (Norway). Startup Norway has joined this project together with Agens to work on a Nordic level to support more companies going circular.
Since its foundation in 2010, Startup Norway has been working towards building the Norwegian startup ecosystem. We feel more than ever the responsibility of supporting the development of more sustainable businesses and accelerating the transition in Norway to a greener economy — and that is why we decided to join this project. We believe this shift can also bring many new business opportunities and can foster a new wave of business creation, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Norway.
This spring, LOOP launched a webinar series involving many of the topics woven into the narrative above: In one webinar, Volvo Cars talk about their methods for recycling tech and plastics for their whole car fleet — and as of now, the ambition is to have 25 % recycled plastic in all their cars by 2025. It is a big challenge that Volvo approached by building a demo car in which they could explore new types of recycled materials. The pilot provided many learnings, for example food packaging is better suited for certain parts of a car’s interior and cutoffs from the manufacturing of airbags can in fact be used for creating the car’s vacuum box. Volvo Cars will utilise the insights to innovate to reach their ambitious target together with old and new suppliers.
In another webinar, Bergans and Spinnova talk about their collaboration — aiming to create more sustainable outdoor clothing: Bergans is a well-known Norwegian brand for outdoor clothing, with a century-long history. Seeing how the climate changes affect their market (which is largely within winter products), Bergans are concerned to see how the average winter now has less snow than before. Spinnova is a Finnish brand aiming to create the most sustainable fibre in the world. Together they have created a concept ‘The collection of Tomorrow’ that was firstly introduced in a form of a backpack made from cellulose fibres — one that can be recycled into other products when the user returns their bag to Bergans after use.
In a webinar on the restaurant’s food waste, three companies discuss cooperation along the value chain: Martin & Servera, The Restaurant Lab (Restauranglabbet), and TotalCTRL talked about the distribution of restaurant meals during the Coronavirus quarantine, and how the amount of food waste can be reduced. The restaurants often rely largely on manual work done by chefs and waiters who are checking in on storages to see when food is expiring — TotalCTRL’s innovation aims to solve this. Manual checking is both time-consuming and allows for errors — which means a loss of revenue. During the Coronavirus quarantine, The Restaurant Lab’s and Martin & Servera’s good overview of food storages have proved valuable for restaurants that have offered meals donated by strangers eager to provide support for doctors and nurses. Children from families relying on food provided by the schools have also benefited from this circular service that reallocate food which would otherwise go to waste.
In a webinar on innovating the insurance business, Omocom talked about how insurance models must be changed to fit our modern needs. For the traditional insurance company, people participating in the ‘sharing economy’ is quite the headache: After all, there is a risk that the product borrowed to someone either disappears or gets ruined. Omocom is building several platforms that allows for an increase in trust between both the borrower and the lender. Omocom wants the verification of an ‘omocomer’ (a user of their platforms) to serve as a validation of the user’s responsibility — and will block dishonest ‘omocomers’ from accessing their platforms.
In a webinar on how renting services can help the circular efforts, Looping talked about the advantages of having shipping companies rent reusable packaging for transport. Looping’s goal is to eventually have packaging that can last up to 15 years — saving tonnes of plastic in the meantime. An irony of single-use plastic is of course that plastic literally is made to last — and Looping is making full usage of this by creating packaging meant for years of use. In pilots together with big construction companies, Looping is collecting data and learning from the materials. As of now, Looping are mostly involved in the business of transporting large cargo, but opportunities for similar solutions would be needed in many other areas.
In the final webinar exemplified in this article, Fiskars Group presented their progress on moving to circular business models. They started by ideating more than hundred circular opportunities of which a few dozen continued for further development and customer co-creation. Fiskars Group found that the service design drivers were the effortlessness of renting and returning, the perceived value of the vintage items, and the excitement of going on a discovery trip at the kitchenware store. It was clear that there is indeed a market for buying and selling second-hand kitchenware, also beyond the flea-market arenas. This was further confirmed in piloting the Vintage service and rental models. Key to success in moving to circularity was agile development done together with the customers.
The informed consumer
These are only a few of the exciting initiatives that are likely to have an impact on your everyday routines not only in the future, but possibly right now too. Of course, reading this article might already cause you to think “where can I get a bag made from cellulose fabric?”. Truth is, many of these innovative ideas and products are just starting out, and so it might take a while before your entire wardrobe and accessories drawers are filled with products made from plant fibres. But the willingness to try out something new is already embedded in us — and that is essential for any sustainable change.
So much of our world has its basis and fundament in mindsets: What kind of world are we building? The world is based on systems, laws, regulations — and even marketing — that guide our choices when we purchase products. For much of the 20th century, there were no (or very few) legal limits on pollution, and few incentives on recycling. It undoubtedly shaped our mindsets: This was in itself a remarkable change, as humans only one or two generations earlier had no access to a lifestyle that allowed them to use items only one time before throwing them away. The new standards set by the dream of ‘disposable living’ shaped people’s mindsets on taking care of things and reusing them, but this also means that we can challenge the status quo — and change mindsets to favour the more sustainable alternatives.
One world, a common goal
As the writer of this article, I of course take great interest in circular economy. My interest on the subject also means I am continuously eager to find sustainable products — or even vintage products that easily can pass off as new. By now I have several pieces of clothing from the 50s and 60s, most of which haven’t aged to the degree you would expect. It is a sustainability choice hidden in plain sight. Many of my items are probably handmade: I see the love for each product in the seams of every garment, and in the lack of any visible brand tag. These clothing pieces come from a time when ‘disposable living’ meant very little to the average family. I often think about how the items were produced decades before I was born — and how they are likely to outlive me if I take care good of them.
The LOOP webinars challenge our mindsets on what is achievable: To what degree can we actually make a better world? Sooner or later, brands and companies lagging behind on their sustainability will be embarrassed when compared to the sustainable alternatives. In fact, companies not making an effort should already be embarrassed, as they cling to a dying mindset. Challenging the status quo allows for a powerful change — and bringing sustainability to the forefront of people’s minds should be a top priority:
