Reducing emissions and protecting biodiversity through the circular economy

Let’s imagine a product. Let’s take a car tire and assume, for simplicity’s sake, 100% rubber content. It’s not as if the rubber hops from its tree to our tire dealer without interacting with tens or probably hundreds of other biological and technical systems along the way.

It starts with the way the plantations are planted. This then naturally includes, in the next step, the question of the chemical treatment of the plants. Origin and transport of water, fertilizers….

The treatment of the workers on the plantations and in the processing as well as logistics in and from the countries of origin naturally also raise the first social questions.

Then there is the question of how long the transport routes are. How is it packed and stored? What about local water, plant and animal protection? Road construction in the jungle, fuel consumption of trucks, ships and airplanes. Of course, both transportation and industrial processing have a major impact on global ecosystems.

The procurement of the raw material is therefore flanked by an incalculably large number of impacts on nature. Reducing new procurement through recycling therefore reduces far more than just the consumption of the primary resource.

Consequently, when viewed holistically, many levers of optimization can be identified.

Another challenge is the measurability of improvements: This is of great importance in order to be able to determine the success of process optimizations in the first place. This is the basis for establishing a climate management system as well as quantitative targets within the company, for example as a management tool within the framework of OKR models or bonus systems.

Consequences of this consideration

1.

An economic system describes a form of human activity and is always in manifold interaction with its environment or other (earth) systems. For example, biodiversity, the global emission budget or political and social systems. Linear economies consume and leave behind uselessness, which has negative consequences for other systems.

The Circular Economy, a circular economic system, opens its eyes to all the other systems, does not harm them, but sees itself as a part of the whole. Circularity consumes and generates at the same time; a healthy system. The variety of interfaces of human economic activity with the environment gives an idea of how great the innovation potential of the Circular Economy is.

2.

Circular Economy is the most obvious adjusting screw for companies. It makes it possible to secure the economic future while at the same time fulfilling increasingly important moral, socio-political and legal obligations, including those relating to biodiversity and climate protection.

3.

A company does everything right if it invests confidently, without hesitation, in efforts to become more circular as quickly as possible and thus part of the Circle Economy.

4.

Concerns regarding the addressability of the customer markets / target groups B2B as well as B2C and thus the refinanceability of investments are absolutely understandable. This is why nice e.V. was founded.
To create consumption alternatives and circular demand through networking and education.

Find out here about the advantages of becoming a member of nice.

Contact us at any time. We are looking forward to meeting you! Be nice!