Creating Value in the Green Economy

Re-thinking product design to move away from cost optimisation and focus design on sustainability. Use of sensors on products and appliances sold by Bosch enables them to be monitored as they are used by consumers. This means that the company is able to offer preventative maintenance and repairability for a product before it becomes irreparable, thus lengthening the life of the product in question. This requires systems changes - ensuring there is a possibility for products to be brought back for repairs, for example.

Presented by: Vonjy Rajakoba, Managing Director, Bosch UK

Bosch Sustainable products

Bosch is working with battery producers and other industry players who create battery-powered products to create one standard battery that can be used across the market, rather than having multiple models. This means that battery technology is shared, so that one standard and rechargeable 18V battery can be used across manufacturers/ brands. They are also working on being able to collect and recycle batteries that come to the end of their life cycle, in order prevent them from going to landfill.

Presented by: Vonjy Rajakoba, Managing Director, Bosch UK

Bosch extends the service life of electric vehicles

Replacing single use plastics like cutlery and sachets used in food products with edible versions made from seaweed decreases the quantity of plastic going to landfill. Alternatives are compostable packaging products such as those produced by firm BioPak (see link). Although BioPak's compostable products are not in themselves examples of circular economy, the brand offers a service which collects the used products and composts them, which does present a circular solution. Further options include refillable containers, or changing systems so that packaging is not required.

Presented by: Soukenya Gueye, Ellen MacArthur Foundation 

Closing the loop on single-use food packaging

Direct Elimination of single-use flexibles

Move away from single use flexibles

Eliminate waste and pollution

Sustainability solutions within fashion include: the use of non-toxic biobased dyes; working with brands that create clothing designed in a "timeless" manner, meaning it is less likely to go out of fashion and more likely to be worn for longer; working with brands using organic cotton; working with brands using durable fabrics built to last; and working with brands offering repair services. Examples include Chinese clothing brand Klee Klee and Dutch brand MUD Jeans.

Presented by: Soukenya Gueye, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Klee Klee

MUD Jeans

Re-thinking agricultural systems: moving away from monoculture and heavily extractive agriculture in favour of a more nature-friendly means of growing crops which allows farmers to preserve the capacity of soils to absorb and sequester carbon, while also maintaining biodiversity in nature. This involves elements of regenerative and agroecological farming. Examples of practices that can be used as part of such an approach are those of rotational grazing; ecosystem restoration; agroforestry; mixed farming methods (where plant and animal species on a farm benefit each other, forming symbiotic systems); Zero Budget Natural Farming; regenerative farming. New approaches are also being developed, including seawater farming, which uses water from a fish farm to create wetland and mangrove ecosystems.

Presented by: Soukenya Gueye, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Regenerative agriculture

The Circular Lagos Initiative, which was launched in partnership with the Circular Economy Innovation Partnership, brings together stakeholders from business, civil society and government in order to work towards circular economy initiatives in Lagos. The initiative works to offer business development opportunities to those organisations that can offer circular solutions, services and products through its business platform. It is innovative in its nature as it provides a unique platform where business people in Lagos can exchange ideas on the circular economy and their potential to contribute to it in the Nigerian private sector. It encompasses the Circular Lagos Challenge and the LoopLab programmes.

Presented by: Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Chair/Founder of Afrikairos GmbH

Circular Lagos

The Circular Lagos Challenge is the flagship event of the Circular Lagos Initiative. It aims to encourage the development of new business solutions that embrace the circular economy as part of their business thinking and design. The "Challenge" asks businesses to present a business pitch. Winning businesses participate in the LoopLab Incubation program, which supports these start-ups to gain funding and develop their business ideas as a means of expanding the circular economy.

Presented by: Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Chair/Founder of Afrikairos GmbH

Circular Lagos Challenge 

The LoopLab Research Fellowship is an initiative of the Circular Lagos Challenge which offers a research fellowship to undergraduate and postgraduate students. This initiative allows students in Lagos to contribute research which can help businesses to find solutions to issues through the circular economy.

Presented by: Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Chair/Founder of Afrikairos GmbH

LoopLab Research Fellowship

This is an initiative which empowers waste collection aggregators with capital, funded by a grant from the Coca Cola Foundation. It includes the employment of 3000 'plastipreneurs' whose job it is to find ways in which waste can be reused and recycled into new items. This also includes a "trash for cash" initiative. The programme hopes to help its participants to develop transferrable skills that can improve their employability and earnings in the long term, and is particularly targeted at women working in the waste management systems in Nigeria. In this way it is both an environmental and social mobility scheme.

Presented by: Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Chair/Founder of Afrikairos GmbH

Coca Cola Foundation plastipreneurs

Currently most technologies for recycling farmland waste into fertilizers and biofuels are inaccessible to rural economies due to them being expensive or located far away from the communities. The work of Takachar has included the development of portable systems that can be attached to trucks and tractors to collect these residues and densify them on site into products such as biofuels, chemicals and fertilizers, without the need for extra input or energy to do so. The idea is to create portable systems that can adapt to the input material and to the needs of the community regarding the desired output product, so that they can suit the local context. So far the initiative has had success in Kenya in improving crop yields and income of rural farmers, costing the same as traditional fertilizers that they use. As the wastes are traditionally burned in open air fires, this system also prevents air pollution and encourages carbon sequestration. There is thus potential for carbon markets to become involved in this solution, with the returns of carbon credits being paid to rural farmers who are not normally able to access these kinds of payments. So far the programme has resulted in working with over 5000 farmers, the creation of $800,000 in rural livelihoods, 6,000 tonnes of waste recycled and 11,000 tonnes of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. It is an example of "turning trash into cash".

Presented by: Kevin Kung, Co-founder and CEO of Takachar

Takachar website 

Across energy poor areas in Africa where access to electricity is unstable, many families use diesel generators to generate electricity for home use. However, such generators emit polluting fumes containing carbon dioxide as a bi-product of burning diesel. The founder of Reeddi engineered a solution to tackle this problem; the Reeddi capsule is a power bank which can be recharged via solar or grid power, and can be rented by individuals for as little as 50 cents per day. The capsules are able to power household appliances, or the needs of small workshops or businesses. Though too expensive for most individuals on low incomes to buy, the cheap rental price enables families or businesses to access clean energy at an affordable rate. The capsules are then returned to the borrowing point where they are taken to be recharged at a solar facility, with the capsules taking just 5 hours to recharge. They are monitored and tracked by the business, meaning that when they are close to the end of their lifecycle (of up to 5 years) they can be collected and re-purposed for re-use, with the Lithium ion cells used for static grid electricity storage. This removes the issue of waste disposal of the unit, and allows for upcycling. Reeddi research indicates that 160kg of CO2 emissions per person per year could be saved if an individual switched from a diesel generator to a Reeddi energy capsule. The future vision of Reeddi is to install a series of energy vending machines that would allow for collection, return and recharging of the capsules across West Africa. The sharing economy model of renting the capsules, coupled with their portable nature and clean energy provision, make this solution innovative.

Presented by: Olugbenga Olubanjo, CEO of Reeddi

Reeddi capsule

Creating meaningful and dignified work within the circular economy is important for its expansion. The language used within the circular economy should change, with those working in recycling plastics called 'plastipreneurs' working in the 'plasticonomy'. This change of language adds value to the necessary work that these people are doing to keep spaces clean and free of waste, and to repurpose plastic materials into new items, thus growing the perceived value of these very necessary roles. Expanding this economy can create employment for poorer sectors of society in Nigeria.

Presented by: Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Chair/Founder of Afrikairos GmbH

Ethical Trading Initiative 

The knowledge of Indigenous Peoples must be part of the solution to expanding the circular economy. For example Natura&Co, a cosmetics brand that works with Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, ensures that the forest commodities they use are grown in a regenerative way. This also provides financial and social return to Indigenous Peoples, while protecting natural spaces and working with them to make the business commercially viable.

Presented by: Soukenya Gueye, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Natura&Co website

A key solution to the expansion of the circular economy is to ensure that the innovations and new technologies and business ideas presented by entrepreneurs are made visible to the world. By explaining the viability of these new products in the realm of sustainability and business, investors will be able to see the value in them and be encouraged to back these products, thus facilitating the growth and development of the circular economy.

Presented by: Olugbenga Olubanjo, CEO of Reeddi

Circular Economy Innovation Network

Government funding is essential for start-ups in the circular economy, as private capital often does not have enough patience to wait for returns on these technologies. Greater government investment in circular economy start-ups is therefore a solution. Governments should also certify such technologies as viable alternatives to linear practices, especially where damaging linear practices are being outlawed (e.g. the banning of open air burning of crop residues in Punjab, for which there is currently no alternative).

Presented by: Kevin Kung, Co-founder and CEO of Takachar

Responsible investment and the circular economy

There is a need for government action in the form of taxes, subsidies and mandates to encourage societal movement towards a circular society, and to complement the knowledge provided by academia and the technological innovation provided by business. Policymakers should look to behavioural economics in order to make informed decisions on how to leverage change towards a circular economy/society. Moreover, products of the circular economy must be attractive and accessible. Nudging techniques can also be used to facilitate a move towards a circular society- through "smart information provision, salient labels, enhanced positioning and default settings". The involvement of societies themselves in the design of circular products and services can further ensure their popularity and suitability. "Circular society goes beyond product innovation, but places the human at the heart of the loop to engage communities in every single step of circular systems."

Presented by: Noah Peters, Erian Institute for behavioural Economics and Policy, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

Circular Economy Research 

Thermal treatment of plastic through pyrolysis can be used to knock back the plastics into molecules that can be repurposed and used as a substitute for fossil fuels. This can be made into a circular model. There is an example of a facility trialling these technologies in Swindon, UK (Swindon Borough Council Recycling Centre). This is a facility which recycles mixed plastics. Up to 40% mechanical recycling and 50% feedstock recycling is achievable with these systems, according to research . This is compared to the current 10-12% of mechanical recycling that occurs worldwide. However, there are some challenges to this approach. These include the need to remove other molecules from the plastics when repurposing them, and doing this in a safe and sustainable way; ensuring the process is efficient and reliable enough to work on numerous local scales; and "devising a distributed industrial ecology for the circular economy in plastics".

Presented by: Jonathan Seville, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham

Recycling Technologies