Circular Economy in Engineering: Designing for Recyclability

Introduction

The increasing amount of global waste production is alarming. The current economy works on a linear model, which includes intensive usage of natural resources and the creation of unsustainable products that will eventually become waste. The method is often summarized as “take, make, waste.” Around 100 billion tons of material is consumed by the world’s population and over 90% of all extracted material used is wasted. On the other hand, a circular economy aims to transform unsustainable methods into more restorative and regenerative systems. Investing in a circular economy can turn out to be a game changer in the green transition. Applying this model in just five key areas like cement, plastic, aluminum, steel, and food can eliminate half of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is around 9.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), by 2050.

What is the Circular Economy in Engineering?

A circular economy in engineering, also called circulatory economy, is a system of resource production and consumption, where materials are not wasted and natural resources are regenerated. In this model, products and materials undergo circulation processes such as reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling for as long as possible. The goal is to address environmental challenges such as resource depletion, biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution while promoting green engineering solutions.

The concept of a circular economy was introduced to address the environmental and economic challenges of traditional linear systems by promoting resource efficiency and sustainability.

While circular economy is not a new idea, the concept has been studied extensively in business, academia, and government over the past ten years. Circular economy principles have been gaining momentum as they help minimize the consumption of raw materials and carbon emissions and create sustainable engineering designs.

Key Principles of Circular Economy:

Collaborative Strategies: Bringing together stakeholders to improve resource productivity, sharing insights that keep resources in circulation for extended periods, and creating closed-loop manufacturing systems.
Long-Lasting Products: Designing products that are repairable, enduring, and that can be upgraded to extend their lifespan.
Improved Brand Reputation: As consumers are substantially prioritizing sustainable and environmentally responsible products, adopting a circular economy improve brand reputation.
Resource Maximization: Maximizing resource usage throughout the product lifecycle, which includes extraction of raw materials, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life product treatment.
Material Sustainability: Using materials that can be renewable, recyclable, or biodegradable to ensure continuous cycling within the economy.

The Role of Designing for Recyclability

Cradle to cradle (C2C) design is based on the circular economy principle and involves developing new materials and production methods that prioritize resource efficiency and sustainability. In engineering, this designing model refers to the practice of designing products using materials that can be repurposed across various product lifecycle stages. As the pressure to achieve sustainability objectives is increasing, the concept of sustainable product design and development is gaining significant attention.

Importance of Using Recyclable Materials

Reduced Energy Consumption: Recycling typically uses lesser energy compared to creating new products from raw materials. To give you a rough idea, recycling 10 plastic bottles can save enough energy to power a laptop for more than 25 hours.

Reduced Waste: Our planet has limited resources. By recycling, the need for extracting and processing new raw materials is reduced, ultimately helping in reducing waste and in lowering our carbon footprint.

Cost Effectiveness: Recycled materials are cost-effective alternatives to new raw materials. Material recycling exerts economic benefits by creating jobs in the recycling industry.

Challenges in Applying Circular Economy Practices in Engineering

There are many barriers to adopting circular economy practices in engineering. The four most common challenges are listed below:

1. Lack of Technology

The unavailability of technologies, tools, and procedures for the proper segregation of material for reuse results in making waste processing costly and challenging. Existing technologies in some developing and underdeveloped countries are not advanced enough to facilitate recycling.

2. Supply Chain Barrier

Successfully implementing a circular economy requires a high level of partnership integration along the supply chain. In supply chain management, diverse factors such as lack of transparency, complicated business processes, low trust, implementation of reverse logistics, incompatibility between partners, uncertainty of material flow, etc. act as barriers.

3. Design Constraints

Engineering relies on materials with specific properties, and transitioning to recycled or biodegradable alternatives can compromise performance, durability, and/or safety. Designing for reusability and recyclability also requires rethinking product lifecycles, which may not always align with current industry standards.

4. Financial Hurdles

To build a strong circular economy, businesses require massive investments in infrastructure and technologies that can adapt to the business’ structure, production, and distribution. Due to the cost involved in building circular economy infrastructure, companies are reluctant to invest.

The Future of Circular Economy in Engineering

A circular economy aims to build an ecosystem in which waste is a valuable resource. Below are some strategies that can impact the future of circular economy in engineering:

Optimizing Product Life Cycle: Incorporating eco-design criteria minimizes environmental impact at every stage of a product’s lifecycle. A life cycle approach ensures sustainability from raw material sourcing to disposal. Reducing harmful substances in manufacturing protects ecosystems and human health, while prolonging product lifespan conserves resources and maximizes economic value, ultimately reducing waste generation.
Enhancing Production Efficiency: Strengthening production guidelines fosters innovation and optimizes resource use. Improving process efficiency reduces costs and emissions while enhancing sustainability. Encouraging sustainable business growth ensures long-term competitiveness while meeting environmental and regulatory expectations.

Conclusion

A circular economy is not only focused on minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency, but also on regulating the environmental impact of engineering. It is also about creating a strong sustainable economy and reducing our dependence on finite resources through reuse. Businesses and governments should therefore adopt integrated strategies that support sustainable and recyclable product designs.