October 2014
abstract
Responsabilité & Environnement
The circular economy: the economic stakes of an environmental transition
Issue editor:
Virginie SCHWARZ et Patrick SOUET
Issue 76
1 - The circular economy: A global issue for sustainably using resources
The circular economy: The economic stakes of an environmental transition
By Janez POTOČNIK
Ex-Commissaire européen pour l’Environnement
Originating at a time when natural resources were abundant and cost very little, our current economic paradigm has always been characterized by an intensive use of resources. This has led to a dete- rioration of our stock of “natural” capital and contributed to climate change. We must now make a break with this linear model (extract, manufacture, use, throw away) in favor of a circular one that not only optimizes the use of each resource but also reuses them. Realizing such a change requires ambitious strategies, now the focus of the European Commission’s efforts. The circular economy’s growth in China Jean-Claude LEVY, historian-geographer, general rapporteur of a task force on the circular economy in development under the minis- ter-delegate of Development in October 2013 and member of a com- mittee of experts at the Institute of the Circular Economy; and Vincent AUREZ, rapporteur of this task force and scientific consul- tant, Ministry of Foreign Affairs The policies related to a circular economy are analyzed that have been conducted in China since 2009 as part of a development strat- egy based on the variety of territorial subdivisions involved. Are such policies, decided at each level of territorial organization, a genuine alternative or a dejà-vu? Chinese policies related to the circular economy stand out from what Germany, the Netherlands or Japan have adopted owing not only to their method of implantation but also to their limitations. China is the only developing country that is pursuing the adventure of a circular economy. Since this new “unidentified object” inherently bears a systemic viewpoint on both techniques and principles, how to measure or assess it? The challenges and limitations of such policies are described along with the particularities that make this national policy a model that can be neither imported nor exported. The major axes for developing a circular economy policy François-Michel LAMBERT, MP from Bouches-du-Rhône Department, president of the Institute of the Circular Economy and vice-president of the National Assembly’s Committee on Sustainable Development and Territorial Planning; and Laurent GEORGEAULT, technical advisor at the Institute of the Circular Economy and doc- toral student at the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne (Laboratory Geography-Cities,CRIA) France and Europe are preparing for the transition from a linear to a circular econoy. What are the grounds for this public policy? Which factors to take into account for extending this concept to a whole nation? The major axes of this transition are examined; an interpre- tation is proposed of France’s political commitment; and policy pro- posals are submitted for debate.
The circular economy’s growth in China
By Jean-Claude LÉVY
Historien-géographe, rapporteur général d’une mission de réflexion sur l’économie circulaire dans le développement confiée par le ministre délégué chargé du Développement en octobre 2013. Également membre du comité d’experts de l’Institut de l’économie circulaire
Jean-Claude LEVY , historian-geographer, general rapporteur of a task force on the circular economy in development under the minister-delegate of Development in October 2013 and member of a committee of experts at the Institute of the Circular Economy; and Vincent AUREZ , rapporteur of this task force and scientific consultant, Ministry of Foreign Affairs The policies related to a circular economy are analyzed that have been conducted in China since 2009 as part of a development strategy based on the variety of territorial subdivisions involved. Are such policies, decided at each level of territorial organization, a genuine alternative or a dejà-vu? Chinese policies related to the circular economy stand out from what Germany, the Netherlands or Japan have adopted owing not only to their method of implantation but also to their limitations. China is the only developing country that is pursuing the adventure of a circular economy. Since this new “unidentified object” inherently bears a systemic viewpoint on both techniques and principles, how to measure or assess it? The challenges and limitations of such policies are described along with the particularities that make this national policy a model that can be neither imported nor exported.
The major axes for developing a circular economy policy
By François-Michel LAMBERT
Député des Bouches-du-Rhône, Président de l’Institut de l’Économie circulaire et Vice-Président de la Commission Développement durable et Aménagement du Territoire de l’Assemblée Nationale
François-Michel LAMBERT , MP from Bouches-du-Rhône Department, president of the Institute of the Circular Economy and vice-president of the National Assembly’s Committee on Sustainable Development and Territorial Planning; and Laurent GEORGEAULT , technical advisor at the Institute of the Circular Economy and doctoral student at the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne (Laboratory Geography-Cities,CRIA) France and Europe are preparing for the transition from a linear to a circular econoy. What are the grounds for this public policy? Which factors to take into account for extending this concept to a whole nation? The major axes of this transition are examined; an interpretation is proposed of France’s political commitment; and policy proposals are submitted for debate.
The circular economy and environmental transition
By Christian de PERTHUIS
Professeur à l’Université Paris-Dauphine
Developing a circular economy is usually justified by the concern for economizing and recycling raw materials with the goal of warding off the risk of exhausting them. A broader view sees the circular economy as a generalization of systems of production and consumption that are gradually based on natural systems of regulation (the climate, biodiversity, water cycle, etc.). The economic leverage for the emergence of a circular economy involves setting a price on damage to the environment. In France, this leverage could be made much more efficient through the taxation of wastes.
Consumer commitments and expectations given new consumption patterns: Opportunities for the circular economy
By Sophie DUBUISSON-QUELLIER
Directrice de recherche au CNRS, centre de sociologie des organisations (CNRS-Sciences Po)
The circular economy seeks to make the activities of designing, producing, using and recycling products part of a single cycle. It thus tends to make more room for consumers who, no longer pushed to the end of the chain, are fully integrated in these economic activities. What do consumers expect from a circular economy? Although it is still difficult to state society’s aspirations in this field, we can imagine how alternative forms of consumption help renew the role of consumers in the economy. New, contemporary consumption patterns are described; and two major characteristics of consumer aspirations, brought to light, namely: strong expectations for guaranteeing production systems and more collective forms of commitment to the governance of economic systems.
2 - The circular economy: A strategic issue for firms
Ecodesign, a key tool for the circular economy
By Christian BRODHAG
Directeur de recherche, École des mines de Saint-Étienne, Président du Pôle national Écoconception et Management du Cycle de Vie, Président de Construction 21
Ecodesign, a preventive approach to environmental problems at the start when products are designed, has had a positive impact on profit margins for specific products and even on corporate profits. Whereas ecodesign focuses on the beginning of a product’s life cycle, the circular economy tends to pay more attention to the end. What actually happens to a used-up product? What is its place in various industrial or natural cycles? In a circular economy, ecodesign must reckon with new objectives, such as recuperating materials, reusing them in the production process, increasing product life spans, renting products and improving the quality of services. Taking these new objectives into account is made easier through an integrated approach to product/service systems that allows for developing other value-added models and an “economy of functionality”.
The practice of the circular economy at Michelin
By Dominique AIMON
Directeur de la Communication Scientifique et Technique du groupe Michelin
Given the increasing scarcity and rising costs of raw materials as well as the need to fight against climate change, advances must continually be made in forms of mobility. Convinced that mobility is a fundamental to human development, Michelin is striving to innovate in response to these issues. Throughout the life span of tires, the impact on natural resources (energy, raw materials, water) can be improved in accordance a circular economy. Michelin is proposing four simultaneous levers of action over the life span of tires and a combination of solutions for better using resources. This is the company’s four-pronged strategy: reduce, succeed, recycle, renew.
Implementing the circular economy at Renault
By Jean-Philippe HERMINE
Directeur du Plan Environnement de Renault
The circular economy is often seen as a solution for the future that needs to be fleshed out and put into practice in business and countries. It forces firms in the automobile industry to adopt a different, global view of each job-related process. It also deeply modifies relations by boosting cooperative projects and partnerships with a variety of stakeholders, including start-ups. As Renault has observed, the circular economy already figures in some business models. It is going to be rapidly deployed in Europe under pressure from new economic, even geostrategic, factors. Thanks to France’s support of the Institute of the Circular Economy and its partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Renault is already contributing to the circular economy and will do so even more in the coming years.
Involved in recycling : The strategy of a group producing strategic mineral products
By Alain ROLLAT
Docteur ingénieur en Chimie de l’Université de Strasbourg et diplômé de l’Institut d’Administration des Entreprises de l’Université de Poitiers
In 2011, developed countries discovered how much they depend on rare earths, which are indispensable to high technology. By imposing quotas on exports, China, the principal producer, caused prices to flare. Given this situation, which put a whole industry in danger (notably the green economy), Europe and the United States reacted by adopting measures for limiting the dependence on Chinese exports. They gave a boost to the recycling of components containing rare earth minerals. In 2007, Solvay launched a vast R&D program on rare earths that led, in 2012, to setting up plants at Saint-Fons and La Rochelle for recycling the rare earths contained in energy-efficient light bulbs, nickel-metal-hydride batteries and scraps from the production of magnets.
The development of recycling: Potentials and obstacles
By Jean-Luc PETITHUGUENIN
Président Fondateur du groupe PAPREC
Recycling is a thriving industry, a key for making economic growth compatible with respect for the environment. This genuinely “heavy” industry is growing thanks to substantial investments in technology. The goal is to continually find new technical solutions for recycling more and better. This growth, coherent with the environment and with humanity, needs strong support from public authorities and all branches of industry.
The limits of recycling given a rise in the demand for raw materials
By François GROSSE
Président, co-fondateur de ForCity
Making the economy circular and making development sustainable take on meaning in the long run. Public policies will show interest in these actions only if the long-term effects are of potential significance for the well-being of people and the durability of the economy’s productive capacities. As an analysis of the flow of raw materials shows however, there is, in general, no sustainable management of these materials in a context of rising consumption. Beyond an annual growth of 1% in the consumption of a raw material, the recycling of nearly all wastes has very little effect on making resources (at the source) last and has little cumulative impact on the chain running from extraction to manufacturing. As a consequence, the key to a circular economy is the proportion of recycled materials in new products — not the proportion of wastes that are recycled.
3 - The circular economy, an opportunity for local authorities and local employment
Regions in a circular economy: A call for projects to further this ecological, industrial, territorial approach
By Jean-Jack QUEYRANNE
Président du Conseil régional Rhône-Alpes
The Rhône-Alps Region wants to develop a circular economy through concrete experiments in eco-innovation, efficient design, clean technology and industrial ecology at the regional level. Industrial ecology, a basic constituent in the circular economy, is an integrated approach for testing in the field feedback loops between stakeholders at the local level and identifying key factors, both positive and negative. In 2013, the Rhône-Alps Region, in cooperation with ADEME, issued a call for regional projects: “Industrial and territorial ecology”. Support for two years is offered to territorial subdivisions in the effort to demonstrate this approach’s economic, social and environmental benefits and capitalize on feedback from experiences in order to encourage other territorial subdivisions to come on board.
Re-employing, repairing, reusing: The environmental, ecological and social issues
By Anémone BERÈS
Présidente d’Envie
A geneticist, we might imagine, would undoubtedly locate the genes of the circular economy in Envie Network, a sincere player with experience in this field! Besides the conservation of resources, this network has worked out a model that centers the economy around people. The classical economy having shown its limits, Envie Network has long promoted a social finality that, based on personal responsibility, is far from a handout. It has developed economic activities in line with this social project by working on an abundant source of wealth: wastes. Its activities are a reparation in two senses. Economic, environmental and social preoccupations are now strong, and Envie is proposing a realistic model…
Household appliances: Manufacturers work out strategies for repairs
By Gérard SALOMMEZ
Président du GIFAM
The sector of household appliances has been a precursor in environmental matters related to the consumption of energy by appliances or the reprocessing of wastes and used appliances. The chain set up in France for processing wastes from electrical and electronic equipment is one of the most efficient in Europe. The energy label — used in the French household appliance industry for more than fifteen years — has gradually been expanded to cover all devices running on electricity. These actions are still important, even as attention is being turned to the environmental challenge of reducing wastes. From this perspective, GIFAM, an association of manufacturers of household appliances, has decided to place service and repair work at the core of its actions. This approach seeks to respond to requirements coming from consumers, environmental organizations and public authorities, and to reinforce relations with repair businesses and the “social economy”. Reducing the production of wastes entails a prudent maintenance of appliances by consumers and the ability of professionals to find solutions for repairs and endow goods with a second, efficient life.