Ep. 51 | A Week of Circularity: The Wisdom of the Cherry Tree

NEWSLETTER by Alessia Falsarone. The author acknowledges the team at The University of Chicago Circular Economy and Sustainable Business Management Program and all participants of the innovation knowledge hub for their insights and collaboration.

Nature is a master designer. Imagine a building that harvests energy from the sun, purifies the air, and brings the outside in, just like a tree does. Such a building wouldn’t just be energy-efficient – it would be truly eco-effective, enhancing the well-being of its occupants and the environment around it. It would be a living, breathing part of a larger ecosystem, just like a tree is in a forest.

This shift towards eco-effectiveness is at the heart of the circular economy – a system that prioritizes reusing and repurposing resources over extraction and degradation. It’s a vision of a future where we learn from nature’s example to create a healthier, more sustainable world.

| The Science of Impact

Picture a lush forest, where every living thing plays a crucial role in sustaining the whole. A tree releases oxygen, which birds carry to other trees. The fallen leaves nourish the soil, which supports the growth of new saplings. In this intricate web of life, nothing is wasted – each organism’s “waste” becomes a valuable resource for another.

This concept of interconnectedness within living systems is the heart of Michael Braungart‘s philosophy, co-founder of the Cradle-to-Cradle design concept and central pillar of the circular economy thinking. As he explains in The Wisdom of the Cherry Tree, the key is not just efficiency, but effectiveness.

Think about a cherry tree. It may seem wasteful – all those beautiful blossoms seem to serve no purpose beyond looking pretty. But from a systems perspective, each blossom is a carefully crafted tool for the tree’s survival. The blossoms attract bees, ensuring the tree’s pollination. They also provide a feast for microorganisms, which break down the blossoms and return vital nutrients to the soil. In turn, this nourishes future plant life, supporting the growth of new cherry trees. This is the kind of wisdom that is needed to design and produce things in ways that mimic nature’s interconnected systems, where nothing is wasted and everything serves a purpose. In a fully functional closed-loop, the waste streams from one industry would become valuable inputs to another.

As companies face escalating costs and increasingly stringent regulations for raw material procurement, they will be compelled to develop more innovative and sustainable business models. This challenging scenario also presents substantial opportunities to drive industry transformation and create more environmentally responsible solutions.

| Circularity Roadmaps Explained

Following the Cradle to Cradle principles, products can be designed to provide resource streams for new products at the end of their use, or to safely biodegrade into the environment. This continual circulation of materials as nutrients adds value and has positive benefits. Because of these advantages, a Cradle to Cradle product roadmap can demonstrate the benefits of the circular economy and help drive the transition towards more circular systems.

There are five standard categories in Cradle to Cradle design:

• Material Health: Products are evaluated for their impact on human and environmental health throughout the supply chain. The goal is to eliminate all toxic and unidentified chemicals and create nutrients for a safe, continuous cycle.
• Material Reutilization: Products are designed to biodegrade safely, compost as a nutrient, or be recycled into new products. The goal is to maximize material recovery and keep resources in circulation.
• Renewable Energy and Carbon Management: The aim is to achieve carbon neutrality and power all operations with 100% renewable energy.
• Water Stewardship: Progress is made towards cleaning up effluent and process water to drinking water standards.

Social Fairness: Adherence to fair social principles helps provide healthy and safe working environments, improving operational performance.

| Investing in the Circular Economy

Should companies invest in their products and services to meet circularity standards by becoming Cradle to Cradle Certified™ ?

Back in 2015, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute engaged Trucost as a partner in the design of a framework to measure the economic, social, and environmental impacts of Cradle to Cradle Certified products.

The study found that companies with Cradle to Cradle Certified products often experienced higher sales and revenues, along with cost savings from resource efficiency improvements.

This was the first study of its kind, so the approach was new and companies could only provide limited product-level data. However, the findings reflect the transparency of the Cradle to Cradle Standard. The study showed that companies could achieve higher certification levels by disclosing detailed data to Accredited Assessment Bodies for material assessment, and by ensuring transparency in their processes and tier one supply chains.

Moreover, it identified several business benefits of Cradle to Cradle Certification, including:

• Reduced risks from price volatility, supply crises, and regulatory costs.
• The creation of new revenue streams and improved product value.
• The removal of toxic materials, which benefits human well-being and future product cycles.

These benefits come from a combination of improved resource efficiency, re-use, and reduced material toxicity.

International office furniture manufacturer Steelcase offers an early example of the competitive advantage gained by introducing Cradle to Cradle Certified products as core to its sustainability strategy and as a source of increased innovation.

Steelcase participated in the Pilot Study by Trucost, which looked at broader business and financial impacts. The company had experienced fluctuating sales due to the economic crisis of 2008-2010. As customers became more concerned about chemicals of concern, they started seeking out certified products. This increase in demand led Steelcase to expand its customer base without raising prices. A win-win due to its achievement in supply chain transparency and its higher level certification of products. Nearly a decade later, Steelcase continues to benefit greatly from its product milestones as a result of its Cradle to Cradle assessments.

| You don’t want to miss this spring

From Valencia (Spain) to Brussels (Belgium), this spring offers new opportunities to connect with fellow circularity practitioners, and stir our world towards a more sustainable economic transition.

Discover, grow and leave your mark!

April 10th – 11th: MeetingPack 2024 (Valencia, Spain) *. Organized every two years by AIMPLAS · Technological Institute of Plastics and AINIA, MeetingPack will focus on the entire food, cosmetics and pharma packaging value chain, including emerging innovations in materials, formats and processes for more sustainable packaging. An add-on to this year’s edition, two round-table sessions, where manufacturing and distribution companies, and consumer associations will discuss their ambitions and strategies to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

(*) Note: Hosted at the Valencia Conference Center, the event will be held in Spanish.

April 15th: EuRIC Tyres – Reinventing the Wheel (Brussels, Belgium). Advancing best in class methodologies in the circularity of tyres starts with strong industry partnerships and advances in sustainable recycling practices. This year’s conference will welcome representatives of the european tyre and rubber manufacturers association (ETRMA), technology providers and circular economy practitioners to better define the way forward in areas such as chemical recycling, rubber conversion and the export ecosystem. Poul Steen Rasmussen (EuRIC), Adam McCarthy (ETRMA) and Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea (EC) will deliver the opening remarks and presentations, followed by panel discussions on circularity essentials and technology innovation moderated by sector specialists Sonia Megert | TRS – Tyre Recycling Solutions SA, Robert Weibold, and Martin von Wolfersdorff.

April 18th: Chatham House: WCEF 2024 Accelerator Session (virtual event supported by UNIDO). Chatham House and UNIDO will present the first comprehensive global stocktake of national circularity strategies, including 70 roadmaps and nearly 3,000 policy actions. This online launch event is organized as an accelerator session of the World Circular Economy Forum 2024. It will also include in-depth discussions on the African, Chilean and Colombian circular economy roadmaps. Among other notable speakers, Tomás Saieg, Chief, Circular Economy Office, Ministry of Environment of Chile, will discuss the implications for governments developing a national circularity roadmap.

Off to another impactful week!