Ep.5 Seb Egerton-Read: Circular Design

This is a part 2 of the interview with Seb Egerton-Read, a learning Program Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, leading the regenerative shift toward circular economy. Previous episode 4 is an overview of circular economy. Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) is a UK registered charity which aims to inspire and educate a generation to re-think, re-design & build a positive future through the framework of a circular economy.

This episode we take a closer look at circular design: material choice and use, product-as-service, dematerialization, modularity, life-extension, take-back, application in developing countries, as well as tools and resources for circularity. 

We will give selected circular design examples to inspire innovative designers and users, however, none of the methods is a silver bullet as Seb has said. Each product and service must be designed as a closed loop system in order to be circular. 

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Resources:

CIRCULAR USE OF MATERIALS

Replenish is a concentrate-refill model of eco packaging. User attaches a concentrate pod and adds water to a reusable bottle to create cleaning and personal care products (Los Angeles, USA).

Gerrard Street headphones service for a monthly subscription fee: fully modular product makes it easy to upgrade, repair, and take care of materials at the end of use (Holland).
“You have the use of sound in your ears without ever owning headphones.”

PRODUCT-AS-SERVICE

Bundles (ND) is a pay-per-wash model allowing customers to pay for the performance of a washing machine, not the product (Netherlands).

YCloset is China's largest fashion rental platform with 15 million users that pay a monthly subscription rather than a per-item fee (see EMF case study).

Rent the Runway is a US subscription fashion service that powers women to rent unlimited designer styles for everyday and occasion (New York, USA).

DEMATERIALIZATION

Google data centers is implementing a circular economy strategy at scale in managing the hardware inside its data centers. Some of applied practices are: maintenance, refurbishment/remanufacturing, redistribution/secondary market sales and recycling. These practices have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars per year in cost avoidance. See full EMF cast study here (Mountain View, USA).

“Ohoo” is a biodegradable and even edible (!) eco packaging by Notpla packaging company which is using seaweed and plants to create packaging material that disappear, naturally (London, UK).

MODULARITY

Stella McCartney Loop Sneaker showcases a new method of attaching the upper to the sole without glue, using interlocking clips instead and thread making the Loop sneaker a recyclable shoe. At the end of the sneaker’s life the upper can be removed from the sole and each part recycled or reused (Texas, London, Rome).

DSM-Niaga is “glue-like-a-screw” innovation that falls apart under specific frequency. New type of adhesive helps to archive clean materials and reversible connections (Netherlands).

LIFE EXTENSION

Beyond recycling: reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing. 
”80% of furniture materials are lost within a short period of use.” 

Royal Ahrend: furniture-as-service model that facilitate reuse and save natural resources applying modular design, manufacture with 100% renewable energy and reduced CO2 footprint by 95% ! (Amsterdam/Shanghai).

TAKE-BACK

Patagonia “Worn Wear” program of reselling vintage gear to keep them in action longer (Ventura, CA, USA).

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Teemill renewable t-shirts designed to be recycled into new one (UK).

Take-back methods:

1) Financial value / store credit 

2) product-as-a-service 

3) large scale recyclable material or biosphere 

CIRCULARITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:

1) context of each country

2) skipping early stages and developing into circular country 

SHIFT TOWARD CIRCULARITY AT WORKPLACE:

1) Business case opportunity

2) Examples 

3) Pilot try-out project 

4) Train-the-trainer package (coming from EMF in 2020)

EXTRAS

New Plastic Economy is a global initiative led by EMF with the ambition to build unstoppable momentum towards a circular economy for plastics.

#WearNext: EMF campaign in New York city 03.04.19 - 06.09.19 aimed to make sure the city's old clothes find a new life. Participating stores and other locations across the city acted as drop off points.

Learning Hub: a digital guide through curated learning experiences to expand understanding of the circular economy and learn how the concept can be applied to different parts of the economy.

Circular Design Guide is the resource that will help embed circular design thinking, enabling businesses to re-think value creation to develop more circular products, services and resilient, feedback-rich organisations.

IDEO is a global design company that creates positive impact through design (9 locations: Cambridge, Munich, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Shanghai, London, Palo Alto, Tokyo).