{"id":8994,"date":"2015-03-12T10:28:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T10:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ca.syspro.com\/blog\/be-part-of-the-circular-economy\/"},"modified":"2021-03-04T14:48:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T14:48:11","slug":"be-part-of-the-circular-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ca.syspro.com\/blog\/erp-for-manufacturing\/be-part-of-the-circular-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Part of the Circular Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Death. It\u2019s guaranteed, the one thing we can\u2019t avoid. Its imminent arrival sparks many emotions, debates, rites and rituals. People spend thousands each year on funeral policies and think up elaborate last wills and testaments to plan for what will happen to them once the grim reaper has paid them a visit.<\/p>\n

With so much time, energy and expense invested in what happens after we die, I was wondering if business owners think about what happens to their products that \u201cdie\u201d. Do their products need to die at all? We are all familiar with recycling, but this often entails individuals or other companies transforming your product into something else. Why? It is YOUR product after all. Your hard work, your money-maker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With that, I invite you to become a part of Circular Economy<\/a>. Circular economy<\/strong> aims to eliminate waste, not only from manufacturing processes, such as lean management, but systematically, throughout the life cycles and uses of products and their components. This is achieved through the design of materials, products, systems, and business\u00a0models. It moves away from the (unsustainable) linear economy of take\u2013make\u00ad\u2013dispose, that wastes large amounts of materials, energy, and labor.<\/p>\n

The circular economy involves two types of materials: biological materials and technical materials. Biological materials (such as cotton) are usually plant-based and non-toxic and can be returned back to the environment safely. Technical materials (such as a toaster) can be recycled and circulated within the economy with minimal loss of quality. Circular economy means resources can be returned to the supply chain at the \u201cend\u201d of a product\u2019s life. This eases resource scarcity, supply hazards, and price variations. It makes me wonder why companies haven\u2019t always been a part of this.<\/p>\n

A great example of circular economy is provided by Markus Zils of McKinsey<\/a>.\u00a0He gives examples of a company selling power drills and how to apply circular economy principles. This is achieved through:<\/p>\n