Cradle to Cradle, Not Cradle to Grave

​When you go to out to eat at most restaurants in Montpelier, your server will clear the table and take unwanted food scraps to the kitchen. Instead of tossing them into the trash with the straws, all food is separated from the trash into its own container. Food waste from kitchen prep is also separated. The food scraps are sent to farms, like Vermont Compost and Dog River Farm, where they are fed to chickens and turned into compost. The happy and full chickens lay eggs that are sold back into the community. The compost is sold to local farms and faraway farms to feed the soil which grows food. That food is sold to restaurants and eaten by consumers. Any food left on the plate is separated, collected, fed to chickens or composted and the whole circle starts again. This is an example of a circular economy at work.                                                                                                                                       

You may have heard the term, “circular economy” before. If you have not, hearing it now likely conjures an image in your mind of something round. That image is right on. Like in the food waste example, a circular economy recycles material inputs and outputs to create a closed loop. Food scraps are recycled into soil or animal feed and then become the fertilizer for growing more food. Another way to describe this flow is cradle to cradle. Materials start with creation—this is the cradle, and then move into the marketplace. At the end of use they are recycled into raw materials, which is the return to the cradle and beginning of a new product. However, the majority of our current economy is linear model, a straight line. Products go from creation or cradle, to use and finally go to the grave as trash. To switch to more of a circular economy, we have to change the way we approach consumption and production. There are ways we already do this, such as thrift stores or blue bin recycling. In Vermont, computers and TVs are banned from the landfill, which means they need to be brought to a drop-off, processed and recycled. Working electronics can be reused. Broken items are dismantled, separated and processed. The plastics, metals, and other component parts are returned to a raw material state, also known as, the cradle.
 
In a linear economy goods are created from raw materials and sold to consumers, who use the goods then thrown them away. The materials go on to become litter, get landfilled or burned in an incinerator. ​

Linear Economy

Circular Economy

​A linear economy assumes endless raw materials for the taking, to be made into new products. It’s the model we rely on even though we know there are not infinite raw materials in the natural world. Resources are finite. The image of the copper mine in Russia (below) visually demonstrates the impact of extracting raw materials from the planet. Circular economy actions, such as reuse or recycling also can prevent this kind of mining by decreasing demand for virgin materials. The concept of throwing something away also makes an assumption that there is an “away.” Landfills take energy, inputs and constant management to operate, and they require a lot of space.  

​Raw material extraction: Open pit copper mine, “Mir Mine,” Mirny, Russia. Photo Credit: Michael Lynch

​Landfill in Coventry, Vermont

​Waste in a landfill does the opposite of go away; it remains in place for all of conceivable time.  For example, in the early 2000's William Rathje dug up perfectly preserved guacamole directly next to a newspaper from 1967, which was still readable, at the Fresh Kills landfill, on Staten Island, NY. Incineration also requires energy inputs and even the highest tech, clean incinerators release some greenhouse gases (EPA, 2016). Litter ends up in our rivers, streams and oceans and causes harm to the environment. Animals eat it, water absorbs it and that water evaporates bringing whatever trash dissolved in the water into the atmosphere.

In previous generations people held onto possessions for years, decades or generations. Before the industrial revolution and advances in manufacturing, goods were harder to come by, more costly and often built to fix and last. Now, consumers are offered upgrades to products all the time, new styles of clothing (fast fashion) and constant innovations in electronics. The incentive to repair and maintain possessions has dwindled.  People want the latest style or best performance in a newer product even when there is still life left in the one they have. 
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In a circular economy a product or material that a consumer is done using, still has value. Instead of abandoning the material, it is recaptured and returned to the economic system.

​Baled recyclables ready for market at the Chittenden Materials Recycling Facility (MRF)

EPR Programs in Vermont

• Paint
• Electronics
• Batteries

​How do we get “waste” from consumers to be reused or recycled into raw material again? This is possible when manufacturers are responsible for disposal or management of their products at the end of life, rather than the consumers. When manufacturers are required by laws to plan for disposal or materials management, they have an incentive to design materials for processing and recapture of raw materials into the economy.  
Recapturing raw resources can either offset expenses or become an opportunity. When manufacturers are tasked with end of life management, they are also pushed to consider that management in the design and manufacturing of a product. If multiple materials in a product are designed to easily separate at the end of use they will be more easily disassembled and recycled. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Programs are an important piece of the foundation of a circular economy, making producer responsibility into law. EPR legislation identifies the manufacturer responsible for the management of products at the end of its life. 

You can participate in a circular economy starting now. Reduce what you consume. Donate for reuse. Recycle and rot your organics, like food scraps and leaves in the fall. Vote for a circular economy with your dollar by buying products from companies that take producer responsibility or are active in the circular economy model.  This includes companies that are using recycled materials to make their products and recycling materials at the end of use. Companies like Seventh Generation and Vermont Teddy Bear Company that makes stuffed bears from recycled plastic. If you live in central Vermont, take your recycling up a notch and go above and beyond the blue bin by accessing our Additional Recyclables Collection Center (ARCC) in Barre. Or check out our A-Z guide that lists alternative reuse and recycling outlets throughout the CV area for any item possible. Before you buy or use something start thinking circular.
 
Stay tuned for our next post about Repair Cafes.
 
Sources:
Environmental Protection Agency. “Fast Facts from the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2014.”EPA,April2016.https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/us_ghg_inv_fastfacts2016.pdf. Accessed March 5, 2017.  

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​Charlotte Low is CVSWMD’s Outreach Coordinator. She is fascinated by the world of waste and works with local businesses and residents to educate on waste reduction and best waste management practices. Passionate about the natural world, of which humans are a part, she can be found gardening, beekeeping, hiking, or geeking out in nature in her spare time.