Influencing public policy

The circular economy is a new way of thinking about the world. Industry is already embracing it. European businesses that work on the basis of circular principles are amongst the fastest growing in the economy. The potential for job creation is great. But the possible benefits go even further than this.

At present, around 9 million people die of diseases linked to mismanagement of waste and pollutants each year. That’s 20 times more than die from malaria. A circular economy would help us fix this.

So what is a circular economy?

Well it's like this… We currently have a primarily linear economy which means we make a product like a toaster or phone and when it breaks or there is a better model available we throw it away. At this point all of the energy, metals and water used to make the phone are lost. Nearly all of a product's material and energy value is currently wasted in this way. But in a circular economy this waste and inefficiency is avoided. 

Resources like cars and machinery are shared so the amount of time they sit idle is reduced. And products can be used for longer because they are designed to be easily repaired or rebuilt with remanufactured components.

This system echoes our natural world: when an organism reaches the end of its life it provides nutrients for another part of the system. 

So how does this apply to development? 

The circular economy holds out the promise of a better development model that creates jobs, improves health and reduces pollution. But despite this triple win, few people in development are working on it at present. Many are even unaware of it. Nevertheless, circular practices can already be found in many sectors of the economy in low and middle-income countries. 

• The Kumasi complex in Ghana is a major remanufacturing and repair cluster for vehicles surpassing anything found in Europe. More than 12,000 small businesses employ 200,000 workers an increase from 40,000 in the early 1980s. 
• In the huge Suzhou National District industrial park in China, firms collaborate so that byproducts from one industrial process - like wastewater - are used as the raw materials for another. This not only saves money and resources; it has reduced sulphur dioxide emissions by a third resulting in cleaner air for local residents. 
• In rural Brazil, Tearfund partner Diaconia are working with family farmers to install bio-digesters that convert animal waste into cooking gas and nutrient-rich fertiliser. Ordinarily the animal waste would break down and emit greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Now these emissions are prevented, and farmers’ livelihoods are improved because they spend less on cooking gas, and the fertiliser increases the output from their farms. 

This is just a glimpse of what is possible. These nations can build on these existing examples and potentially leapfrog straight to 21st century circular systems and institutions.

Tearfund is working towards this, helping communities and policy-makers overcome the barriers to circular approaches. More widespread adoption of the circular economy by those working in development would accelerate this transition, helping communities create jobs and save lives now and for generations to come.