The concept of the Circular Economy grew out of an original idea put forward in 2004 by British sailor Ellen MacArthur. In 2010, the foundation bearing her name was established to spread this proposal.
In the traditional model of production and consumption, the destination of goods after use is landfills, incinerators or similar sites. Of course, there is some recycling or reuse, but generally most of the resources used to make products — energy, inputs, labour hours, logistics, and so on — end up lost in one way or another. Clearly, this model is disastrous for the environment, both because of the damage caused by extractivism (the extraction of natural resources for export, typically with minimal processing) — which is often necessary to obtain raw materials — and because of the waste of resources and the resulting pollution.
The Circular Economy proposes a radical change to this model: first, products should be designed with reuse planned in from the outset, so they are never definitively discarded. Second, if reuse is not possible, “Circular design” should ensure the product is fully (and easily) recyclable. This kind of product’s life cycle would be Circular and have no end — which is why the phrase “cradle to cradle” has replaced the “cradle to grave” formula. If the Circular Economy is fully implemented, there will be no more waste, just as there is no waste in nature.
But the Circular Economy also calls for the use of renewable energy sources, tackling climate change, eliminating toxic waste from industrial processing, protecting and promoting biodiversity, and regenerating ecosystems undergoing degradation. The goal is to reconcile economic development with environmental sustainability.
Many major companies believe in this concept and are investing heavily in the processes and technologies that can make it happen. The good news is that the pulp and paper sector is already very advanced in this respect. Its raw material is renewable — systematically cultivated trees. This cultivation reclaims land at different levels of degradation. Cultivated trees capture carbon from the atmosphere. Paper is already widely recycled and is biodegradable. Paper books are an example of reuse. Waste from industrial processes is tightly controlled.
New developments are being pursued to further improve the alignment of the pulp and paper sector with the Circular Economy. But it is also up to designers, printers and converters to move in this direction and take advantage of the major environmental benefits of cellulosic substrates.
Designers are responsible for designing graphic products that can be reused, and for seeking alternative finishes that don’t require inks, varnishes or laminations that make recycling or biodegradation difficult.
Printers and converters must identify and measure their environmental footprint, reduce it as much as possible, and offset any negative impacts that cannot be eliminated. In the packaging sector, “ecological” barriers that can replace synthetic polymers in many cases already exist.