What is Circularity?

There is an increasing body of evidence that says we are on a collision course to irreversible climate change, which means the need to implement solutions that slow this change has never been more pressing than now. 

Thankfully, businesses like Integra TransForm are paying attention and taking action in the form of new partnerships and progressive manufacturing techniques to address our climate emergency. This equates to operating in ways that reduce carbon emissions to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, eliminate the depletion of natural resources and foster a more livable environment for generations to come.

With words like ‘Circular Design’, ‘Circularity by Design’ and ‘The Circular Economy’ being used more frequently in the Integra lexicon, we thought we’d take a moment to explain what we mean when referring to ‘Circularity’ and the long-term role it plays in helping us all battle and ultimately overcome climate change.

THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY: AN INTRODUCTION TO CIRCULARITY

Circularity is a remarkably broad term. It can best be described as a framework for an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design and, contrary to misconceptions, goes way above and beyond the principles of recycling.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is one of the world’s leading advocates for the advancement of circular economies, and expands on the notion of circularity in the following manner:

“Looking beyond the current take-make-waste extractive model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model… is based on three principles: design out waste and pollution; keep products and materials in use; and regenerate natural systems.”

Principle #1: Design out waste and pollution

More than 80 percent of the materials used in products and services today end up in landfill or in industrial incinerators, according to Simon Widmer, Design Network and Creative Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This is an outdated model that is unfortunately still in use, referred to as ‘The Linear Economy’.

“We take finite resources, use them only for a short period of time, after which they are lost from the economy. This is an enormous loss,” says Widmer. “We miss out on the opportunity to keep products and materials in circulation, and with it all the creativity, labour, and energy that went into them.”

In the same way that single-use hot drink cups are a significant contributor to how much waste we produce, Liam Taylor from Planet Ark explains the principle of designing out waste as “what if, instead of building our products to reach obsolescence, we constructed them so the resources and materials used could be recovered and returned to the material cycle?” 

Principle #2: Keep products and materials in use

Regeneration is at the heart of a circular economy; it’s about maximising the lifespan of materials at the design stage to create smarter manufacturing processes, and drive a sustainable future by eliminating waste and pollution. 

Put simply, the more components, parts and systems we design to be reused, repaired or remanufactured, the less waste is produced. 

“This is particularly pertinent for materials and resources with short lifespans such as food and packaging, which can cause huge amounts of waste without appropriate resource recovery processes,” adds Liam Taylor. 

Principle #3: Regenerating natural systems

Regenerating natural systems is the final of the three pillars of circularity but by no means the least. 

Simon Widmer sees it as “keeping products and materials in use at their highest value, and regenerating natural systems. Just like in nature, by design everything is food for something else — materials flow from one (life)form into the next. It is a model that can work for aeons. Just like it has in nature for 3.8 billion years.”

By contrast, in the linear economy, organic materials have been treated as waste and shipped off to landfill. This not only wastes the water and energy used to make the products in the first place but can create negative environmental impacts as organic materials break down. 

As Liam Taylor notes, “When organic matter begins to rot in environments like landfill, methane (a greenhouse gas with a warming effect around 25x stronger than carbon dioxide) is produced as a by-product. By returning valuable nutrients to the soil and other ecosystems instead of sending it to landfill, we can enhance our natural resources.”

In essence, a circular economy aims to keep resources in use for as long as possible and then, at the end of their operating life, find ways to recover and regenerate those products and materials. From a circular design perspective, it means designing products that are versatile, and using environmentally friendly processes and materials that have the functionality to be incorporated and re-purposed on multiple occasions in the future.

CIRCULARITY IN ACTION AT INTEGRA

Integra has always embraced circular design – or circularity by design ­– in many practical, achievable ways. Interestingly enough, our processes didn’t fit a ‘slogan’ when we began in 1991, and yet circular design was naturally imbued in our ethos. Only now we have come to know it as circularity. 

Take, for instance, the following examples:

• Many of the products we produce are designed in modular or kit form for flat-packed transportation. Kits can be assembled and disassembled on-site. This reduces transportation costs and waste caused by inefficient use of haulage space, which subsequently results in reduced carbon emissions.

• In the manufacturing process, we apply our knowledge of metals to select the most suitable material for our customers’ projects. We do this to not only ensure the right product fit but also the correct strength and durability, which leads to minimal defects and waste from product failure.

• Our engineering space relies on ‘smart’ machine technology, which includes Servo Electric Brake presses that automatically shut down when not being used. Our Fibre Optic Laser and Compass technology utilises the highest speed laser head available, delivering the fastest cutting speed at maximum efficiency. Additionally, all metal off-cuts and scrap are systematically collected and sent to an accredited recycling specialist.

Furthermore, we recognise that circularity is not a set-and-forget measure; it’s something that organically grows and evolves with a business, much like the regeneration of the materials themselves. This means we’re always looking at how we can be more circular and continually improve on the processes we have in place. 

THE WRAP-UP

In many ways, it’s troubling that circularity still needs to be explained to many people – it’s something that should be entrenched in the ways of doing things; a logical, natural approach for all of us, not just those in manufacturing or industry.  

For Integra, circularity will continue to be the centre of everything we do. We will always design with an eye to waste reduction, employ modularity to maximise the scope for re-use or re-deployment, and endeavour to manufacture with recycled materials wherever possible.

We reduce, reuse, remake, redeploy and recycle. That is circularity. That is our promise to our customers, our people, our planet.

All Integra products are created with circularity in mind but our Lune collection – the result of our international partnership with Brink – is a striking example. Find out more about Lune.

Want to know more about the Brink partnership and circularity? Read our interview with Consul-General Frank van Beuningen and Dai Forterre from the Netherlands Consular Mission.