Circular Economy

People are more aware of the waste their decisions produce today than they've ever been before. It's one reason so many companies showcase how they reduce their waste as part of the manufacturing process or reuse it to make sure their customers can purchase with a clean conscience.

The news from the world of recycling can be grim, but there have been a number of successful recycling innovations that are quietly fueling the dream of a circular economy. Consider these recycling success stories: Craig's Creamery Craig's Creamery, located on Noblehurst Farms, is a cooperative cheesemaking concern for several local dairies.

We all know, academically, that trees are being cut down and logged to produce dozens of different products every year. Everything from building frames, to furniture, to shipping pallets represents a strain on our forests, which are one of our best weapons for fighting climate change.

When people think of major sources of waste, we tend to think of disposable plastics, or of the sheer amount of paper products we go through daily. One thing that isn't on the radar for a lot of us is fabric, but there is a frankly absurd amount of it out there! Our clothes, the upholstery in our cars and on our furniture, our household goods, all of it is fabric.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, several major corporations committed to implementing TerraCycle's new Loop shopping system. Efforts aim to leverage eco-conscious consumers' desires to reduce waste.

Concrete is a major building material. One important application is in the construction of highways.

Nuclear power, whatever its other drawbacks, is often seen as an alternative way to cease our dependence on fossil fuels, and to create cleaner energy. However, one of the major drawbacks of nuclear power is that it creates extremely hazardous waste.

The problem of what to do about trash is vexing, whether one is on Earth or in space. On the International Space Station, astronauts use a trash compactor to reduce the volume of its garbage and then shoot it into the atmosphere, where it burns up.

Implementing a circular economy model in your business is a significant change in ideology from the atypical "take, make, dispose" model we were all raised on. Particularly in American businesses, the drive for profitability is paramount in business models.

Circular economy products won't only benefit the environment; it will also aid the consumers. Re-manufacturing is a vital part of the circular economic shift.