What do we mean by ‘closing the loop?’

Well every product we use has a life cycle.

Raw materials must be sourced to produce it…

After production, it must be marketed to a customer…

After it’s use, what remains of it – waste – ends up in the rubbish dump.

So in a sense, the life cycle of the product can be termed as ‘open loop’ because it starts at manufacturing and ends at waste disposal.

But what if we were to connect the two lose ends?

What if we’re to ‘close the loop?’

How would our product life cycle look like?

We would have to look for ways to recover raw materials from the waste to feed into manufacture of a new product.

But it isn’t as obvious as it looks.

Which is why the 5R’s of waste management seek to make it practical.

The 5R’s are – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle.

We shall consider each keenly with as much practical application as possible.

REFUSE

Ever walked into a supermarket when very hungry?

Chances are that you might just pounce onto any available food and stuff yourself full.

And supermarkets are good at attracting us to food.

Just observe the entrance and see the amount of niceties available for your picking.

The supermarket is the epitome of consumer culture.

Infact one major retail brand in Kenya hit the point with it’s catch phrase – you need it, we’ve got it.

But this consumer culture drives us towards generating more and more waste.

Picture the refuse collected from any middle income estate.

Chances are that about 80% of it consists of food waste.

And this replicates itself in other products too…

The packaging…

The wrappings…

The plastics…

Name them.

This first R is about refusing to be wasteful…

It’s about frugal living – not living like a miser but buying and using only what’s needed.

It might also mean using less processed foods which use lots of inputs…

It could mean finding ways of storing food.

It might mean finding practical ways of refusing waste.

But we can’t totally eliminate waste.

REDUCE

If we can’t totally eliminate it, we could reduce usage of products and processes that generate lots of waste.

Take for instance leather tanning.

Leather improves our lives in many ways.

Though the product is beneficial to us, the processes used to produce might not be.

Chromium, for instance is used as an input in the tanning process.

It helps tenderize the hides making them fit for use.

But what happens to it after leather production?

Chromium might be good during leather production but risky to the environment.

It pollutes our soils, water and air.

It’s taken up by our bodies causing disease over the long haul.

REDUCE is about toning down on inputs that are risky to us – such as chromium.

And quite some effort is being invested in use of natural vegetable tannins.

But it’s not just about avoiding pollutants, it’s also about reducing the usage of products that are not easily recycled.

Take for instance single use plastic bags – and many other forms of plastic.

A lot of R&D has been invested into biodegradable plastic research and the results look promising.

REUSE

Manufacturers are always trying to find ways of reducing waste and one of the more innovative ways is through reuse.

Take the example of a detergent company that sells soap in plastic containers then encourages its customers to reuse the containers for future storage.

So the customer could take the containers for subsequent refills.

This strategy has been employed by a couple of products such as cooking oil, bottled water etc.

But the circular economy is an economic model that could also put money in people’s pocket.

And the last two strategies have this in mind – creating more value out of waste.

REPURPOSE

Repurposing is about finding another use for a product that would otherwise be condemned to the rubbish dump.

It’s sometimes called ‘upcycling’.

Take for instance a young entrepreneur who uses worn out tyres to make very elegant furniture…

Or a farmer who uses timber off cuts – waste from timber production – to make a chicken coop or a vertical garden…

Or a young innovator who uses glass waste make attractive flower vases for sale…

Or a businesswoman who used waste paper to make biodegradable paper cups and plates…

Repurposing waste into valuable products can only be limited by your imagination.

Creativity comes to play here.

Its about taking a different look at waste.

For it to work, one must think outside the box – or discard the box altogether – and re-imagine another use for the waste product.

But not all waste can be repurposed without some processing into a new product.

Which takes us to recycling.

RECYCLING

Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials (that would otherwise be thrown away as trash) and remanufacturing them into new products. (USEPA).

Arguably, it’s the most talked about R in the circular economy.

However it’s the one requiring most input – creativity, imagination, R&D, business acumen, capital, sales strategy – if desiring to make money out of it.

But it’s the most promising when it comes to creating employment opportunities because its all about using waste as raw materials to manufacture useful products.

Take for instance orange peels…

What use do they have other than being discarded?

Really?

Orange peels contain glands that produce oils rich in antioxidants and the orange fragrance.

This type of oils are called essential oils – and they can cost a fortune.

Orange peels have therefore created a whole business around essential oils with some companies racking huge profits in the process.

But it doesn’t just stops at that.

There are entrepreneurs who’ve manufactured bio-ethanol from sugarcane waste…

Others who’ve remodeled plastic waste into chairs, tables and poles…

Others have also used rotting waste to make compost for farming and biogas…

Recycling has the potential to revolutionize the economy of a community by riding it of waste, creating industries, generating income and availing useful products in the process.

IN CONCLUSION

Sit down and think of the 5R’s of the circular economy. 

Find useful way of plugging into them.

It doesn’t necessarily need to be sophisticated…

Try reusing, repurposing or reducing the use of certain products that generate lots of waste.

That’s a good place to start.