The Need for Sustainability 4.0 – The Share and Repair Economy.
The premise of a sustainable society is a highly complex one which requires many different solutions. There is a need for systems thinking on managing resources and consumption on a local, national and global scale. The media emphasis does however seem to have shifted to one of a predominantly “NetZero” ideology with only the carbon footprint of a product being considered, when in fact there are many other factors that need to be controlled i.e., non-CO2 air pollutants, land use, soil erosion, marine life, water usage, water pollution etc.
The Circularity Gap Report 2023, which was published in January points to disappointing results on circularity with the figure for global circularity now put at just 7.2% in 2023. More worryingly this figure has dropped from 9.1% in 2018 due to rising material extraction. (Circularity Gap, 2023)
The challenge is even more complex however, because the introduction of new technologies such as electric mobility and renewable power, necessitate the increased extraction of raw materials and metals because there is simply not enough above ground to meet growing demand and in fact forcing through premature recycling of high value add products such as lithium-ion batteries (LIB) would miss the opportunity for reuse in multiple additional lives resulting in an even worse lifecycle footprint for electric mobility. (Karomah, 2021). Recycling in the EV industry also does not necessarily reduce the amount of mined material required. As EV Recycling and Reuse expert Hans Eric Melin, CEO of Circular Energy Storage (CES) recently stated:
“Recycling is important and can be very profitable. It is also a great source of material. But to be recycled the materials first have to be mined. What hasn’t been mined can’t be recycled.” (Melin, 2023)
Therefore, we need to think about Sustainability in a different way. The trajectory can be viewed as a series of new paradigms (which add to rather than supersede, at least initially, previous ones), as shown in Figure 1.
Of these above paradigms, only Sustainability 4.0 results in significant lowering of consumption of virgin manufactured goods. Note the difference in thinking – “virgin manufactured goods” vs. “virgin raw materials” because the recycled materials as noted in the Melin article referenced above in fact ends up on brand new consumer goods. “Contains recycled content” is a phrase we see often now, but the virgin manufacturing aspect is still present. Compare this to a repaired or “secondary good”. The entire raw material extraction, processing and manufacturing processes, not to mention transport are missed out, thereby making the reused goods far more sustainable.
Sustainability 4.0 (which is a term used in this context for the first time by Enabled Future Limited) is a quiet but growing revolution. Businesses are springing up everywhere which have a repair and share focus. Organisations which loan out goods from a library, e.g. Library of Things in London. (Library of Things, n.d.). Startups such as Team Repair which makes educational kits aimed at teaching young people to repair broken electronics. (Team Repair, n.d.) An exciting growing movement is that of Repair Cafes throughout the UK and elsewhere in Europe. (Repair Cafe, n.d.) There are now 2,635 Repair Cafés with an estimated 39,525
volunteers involved, repairing some 47,430 items per month including everything from laptops, to coffee makers and furniture. (Repair Cafe, n.d.) The societal benefits are clear – these Repair Café and LoT activities bring together local communities and help those in poverty to access goods that they might not otherwise be able to afford. Something much needed after the social isolation of the pandemic lockdowns and subsequent impact on mental health. A point to remember that all our green activities are aimed primarily at preserving both people and the planet – surely a Sustainability 4.0 metric should include our Quality of Life (QoL).
Circularity Gap. (2023, January). The Circularity Gap Report 2023. Retrieved from Circularity Gap : https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023
Karomah, A. (2021, Nov 12). Reusing and Recycling Li-Ion Batteries. Retrieved from AZOM: https://www.azom.com/news.aspx?newsID=57297#:~:text=Based%20on%20the%20batteries%20chemistry,by%202%20to%206%20percent.
Library of Things. (n.d.). Library of Things. Retrieved from Library of Things: https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/
Melin, H. E. (2023, February). LinkedIn. Retrieved from LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7034226512685887488/
Repair Cafe. (n.d.). Repair Cafe. Retrieved from Repair Cafe: https://www.repaircafe.org/en/
Team Repair. (n.d.). Team Repair. Retrieved from Team Repair: https://team.repair/