Pledge for circularity
Limits of a linear model
Industry is the essential know-how that allows us all to move, to care for and to feed ourselves, or to connect with each other. The objects and services that industry provides us with have become part of our daily lives to bring the necessary and sufficient comfort to push the population out of the insalubrity of the beginning of the 20th century.
But in today's industry, which has been optimized for a long time - on some financial criteria - only 8 to 9% of the co-products or wastes are revalorized to feed another production tool, the rest is lost. More exactly, to produce 1 kg of waste in your garbage can, it will have been consumed about 5 times this quantity in terms of resources. So we wonder what has become of this material lost along the way. It didn't. Designed in a linear way, each element of the chain is focused on its process, produces waste and emissions without ever looking at what the others are doing.
Will this linear industry be robust in the face of tomorrow's challenges? Will this industry, where chips, scraps and other waste are left in the dumpster, under the pretext that their financial value is not worth the effort, resist global warming and the depletion of resources (e.g. copper, depletion of 90% of mines by 2050)?
In light of the semiconductor crisis that is shaking the electronics supply chains of major manufacturers, we understand that the problem of securing resources will be a major issue in the coming years.
Moreover, when we study the environmental impact of the products and services generated by our industry, we realize that nearly 50% of the environmental impact (in terms of GHG emissions) is linked to materials - materials extracted from the ground, transformed and packaged. So when we talk about saving energy, we forget 50% of the problem.
In short, the linear model of “extraction, use and disposal” is one of the main drivers of natural resource depletion, waste, environmental degradation and climate change.
Towards a circular economy
If we allow ourselves to imagine a world, where we optimize the use of resources and study the circular models that are gradually emerging, we see those allow to:
- Foster innovations that carry competitive offers against the giants of consumption
- Reduce material costs and secure supplies while circulating a maximum of material
- Decouple value creation from resource consumption
- Massively reduce the environmental impact of products and services
- Create jobs (wouldn't the future industrial job be the electro-mechanical technician able to repair and put back into service all our devices?)
- Re-engage teams in search of meaning around eco-design, local sourcing of materials and suppliers and the creation of a new sustainable economic model
A circular economy is a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society and the environment. In contrast to the linear "take-make-garbage" model, a circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources.
The benefits of moving from a linear to a circular economy are notable. In a circular economy, economic activity strengthens and rebuilds the overall health of the system. The concept recognizes the importance of the economy working effectively at all scales - for large and small businesses, for organizations and individuals, globally and locally.
At the global level, the circular economy disconnects the growth of economic value from the consumption of raw materials and energy resources. As a result, it generates fewer negative externalities and produces environmental benefits; At the local level, it relocates part of the production, provides new employment opportunities and improves the trade balance.
At Riverse, this is what we aim at fostering!
