A Collective Action toward Circular Economy

We are facing unprecedented times where climate change is occupying headlines, not just for the news about science-based findings on its severity and current reality but for the increase of climate-related events such as landslides, droughts, and floods, among others. While this occurs, we face a rise in climate anxiety as people are concerned about their future. At the same time, there is a need for more clarity in understanding how we as a society, including consumers, companies, and governments, are responsible for this climate reality.

That is why I would like to dive deeper into the circular economy and the challenges we are facing regarding waste management. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, while renewable energy would address 55 percent of emissions reductions to reach Paris Agreement targets, the circular economy would be responsible for the remaining 45 percent. Eliminating waste and pollution is one of the three principles of this model and the fundamental way of reaching it is through design, by creating products that can be reincorporated into the cycle with the well-known 3Rs, which range from reused to the last resort, recycled.

Waste has become one of the most pressing issues, accounting for 5 percent of total emissions. The UNEP Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 predicts that municipal solid waste is expected to grow from 2.1 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. This would cost USD 361 billion when considering climate change impact, health-related issues, and waste management costs. The invitation then is to turn into a zero-waste model where redesigning products, changing consumer habits, enforcing regulations, and promoting stakeholder engagement are crucial to reaching a significant reduction in waste generation.

“Rethinking packaging in consumer packaged goods or the retail industry is necessary to avoid waste in landfills.”

Rethinking packaging in consumer packaged goods or the retail industry is necessary to avoid waste in landfills. There are a lot of multi-materials that are not easy to incorporate like the traditional coffee packaging, again contributing to pollution. Also, an estimated half a trillion disposable coffee cups are discarded every year globally. The plastic lining in paper cups while making them leak-proof also makes them very difficult to recycle as it requires specific facilities to process. Innovative alternatives, product lifetime, scalability, costs, and functionality seem to be very important aspects to address before the coffee industry turns into those solutions.

This takes us to consumer habits and how important it is to focus on education and communication to ensure consumers understand their positive changing power. When they decide to refuse to use unnecessary packaging or paper goods, when they take their reusable cups or their reusable bags, and when they think twice about buying something they do not need, they are significantly reducing their impact and forcing brands to keep working for more sustainable products and services.

However, if we want to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement targets, good intentions from companies and consumers are not good enough and necessitate regulation at the local and national levels to move forward and catalyze efforts. For example, the Extended Producer Responsibility regulation has been enforced in many countries worldwide to impose liability on producers over the lifecycle of their products. Beginning with the EU, now countries in Latin America like Chile or Colombia have EPR laws making companies move forward into individual, collective, and industry efforts to reduce environmental impact through circular economy strategies. For Colombia, the goal is to reach 2030 with 30 percent of total packaging being recovered. Also, these two countries have laws regarding single plastic use, urging brands to move into new alternatives in terms of materials and design to achieve targets.

Last, but not least, stakeholder engagement seems to be a pivotal part of this process. First, it is very important to talk about waste pickers and how they play a fundamental role in this process. Between 19-24 million people across the globe work as waste pickers, representing 0.5-1 percent of the global workforce (Fair Circularity Initiative & Systemiq, 2024). They contribute to building the material's circularity and create value for resource recovery models. However, they live under very vulnerable conditions and face challenging working conditions. Also, they are often invisible to consumers and policymakers.

All dimensions were explained before requiring waste pickers' engagement as central actors in building a circular economy system, where just transition is fundamental to ensure their voices are heard.

Companies play a crucial role in raising consumer awareness about their importance and they must develop programs to assure fair wages and safe working conditions for waste pickers. Likewise, Governments always need to include in environmental laws not just their perspective but dispositions favoring human development. While the challenge is huge, I am confident that we are finally understanding how collective action is the only way to tackle the current climate emergency, where the circular economy plays a central role.