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Students will understand the differences between the linear and circular economies and how natural cycles can teach us to design more circularly. They will develop the ability to think about the full life of the products that we use in our daily lives and set the groundwork for being able to redesign systems. Students will understand the 5 different types of circular economy business models and identify how these models practice the 3 principles of the circular economy.

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Lesson Prep & Curriculum Alignment

Prep time: 10 – 15 minutes

Print out the 4 handouts: 1. Circular Business Cards; 2. Circular Business Case Study; 3. Areas of Circularity; 4. Circular Lifecycle Map.

Display the lesson slides for the class and create a discussion about what they already know about the linear vs circular economies and introduce the concept of product lifecycle mapping. Ask students the guiding questions in the PowerPoint slide notes.

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Follow the steps on the next slide and in the teacher notes in slides 16 and 18 to conduct the class activity.

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Key Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Alignment:

Science - Earth and Human Activity: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment. Things that people do can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things.
English Language Arts and Literacy: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about topics and texts. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions. Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
Social Studies - People, Places, and Environments: The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.

SDG Alignment

Lesson Prep & Curriculum Alignment

Prep time: 10 – 15 minutes

Lesson plans are designed to be flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of your classroom. Lessons are editable and customizable to meet the different individual student and classroom contexts. A PowerPoint version with teacher instructions and a printable PDF lesson are available for download.

Flexible and adaptive lesson

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The Lesson

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Lesson duration: 30 - 45 minutes

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Students will receive the Circular Business Case Study handout with nine questions that they will answer based on the circular business card they choose. Allow them to do their own research online if they need.

Distribute the circular business card handouts and have students select one of the five circular businesses they will use for their case analysis.

Once they have answered all the questions for the case study they will map the areas of circularity found in their business case. The handout will consist of the 5 linear stages of a product’s lifecycle and have them draw in the arrows indicating the kinds of circularity used in their business case.

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Prepare the PowerPoint presentation

When you are ready to present the lessons to your class click on Slide Show on the top menu bar then select Presenter View. In Presenter view, you can see your notes as you present while the audience see only your slides.

The notes appear in a pane on the right. The text should wrap automatically, and a vertical scroll bar appears if necessary. You can also change the size of the text in the Notes pane by using the two buttons at the lower left corner of the Notes pane.

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Linear Economy

Circular Economy

VS

(Slide duration: 5min)

Tell students:

How we approach our systems of production and consumption is important to understand when discussing how to fight climate change and to become a more sustainable world. The planet’s resources are finite, so it is crucial that people, governments and companies work together to use them more responsibly.

A linear economy is our traditional model that follows the “take-make-dispose” model where raw materials are collected, then manufactured and transformed into products we use until they are finally discarded as waste either in a landfill or into our natural environment. This model gives no concern for their ecological footprint and its consequences. It prioritizes profit over sustainability, with products made to be thrown away once they have been used.

A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. It is a model designed to have as little impact as possible on the environment by leaving less of a footprint through keeping items in a closed loop system.

Questions for students:

1. What is an example of a product from the linear and circular economies?

ANSWER: Linear = Food packaging film on broccoli, Circular: Car ride-sharing or PET plastic bottle recycling.

2. How is the linear model harming the planet?

ANSWER: Waste accumulates in the landfills or leaks into the environment as litter. Finite natural resources are depleted.

3. How can the circular economy help fight climate change?

ANSWER: It keeps natural resources in use with no need to extract more. It also reduces waste leakage into the environment as litter.

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Linear Economy

(Slide duration: 5min)

Tell students:

The linear economy is designed to extract raw materials from nature, process them into usable goods, and then discard them either into a landfill, burned in an incinerator or leaked somewhere in nature (usually by accident and considered litter). This linear system can be wasteful, and the losses result in negative environmental impacts, which is not currently accounted for in any of our economic measurement tools. When we consume a product we should consider the end-of-life options for it. If the product ends up in a landfill, is that a bad thing? Can it be recycled? Can I reuse this? Can I repurpose it in some way?

Questions for students:

Why would a system be designed in this way?

ANSWER: Value is created in the current economic system by producing and selling as many products as possible. Profit over the planet.

What is a problem with this model?

ANSWER: It creates a lot of waste which often enters the environment as litter. Landfills release large amounts of methane gas, which contribute to global warming. ��

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Circular Economy

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Life Cycle Mapping

(Slide duration: 5min)

Tell students:

The major stages of a product’s life can be mapped in both linear and circular ways. We can assess the life cycle by identifying the 5 key stages of a product’s life:

Material extraction is how and where raw materials are removed from natural sources.
Production of the raw materials into a product.
Finished products are distributed to places where customers can purchase the product.
Customers use the product.
The product is then disposed of after use.

By looking at a product's entire life cycle, from materials extraction to end-of-life management, we can find new opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources, and reduce costs. Instead of the linear “take-make-waste” system of the 5 stages, we can build in circularity through closed loops that keep these materials and products in use.

Circularity means rethinking the linear use cycle of a product or service with a beginning, middle, and end. If a product or service is truly circular, it will never actually have an end to its life, but continuously take a new form. Mapping this journey will ensure that your product is staying in a useful state for as long as possible and adds value at every stage.

�It is not only about recycling; it is really about redesigning the entire product or service delivery model so that human beings get the things they need without negatively impacting the natural systems that sustain us all.

�The exciting thing is that this is happening all around the world; people of all types are changing their lifestyles and companies are redesigning their products to be more circular. These types of changes mean designing products to be reused and rethinking the way we deliver functionality to the market. They also include encouraging repair through better support services, return or take-back programs, refill services that encourage the use of the same container more than once, and products being designed to be remanufactured to be returned to nature through composting.

�Ask students:

Can you give me an example of a product designed under one of the “Re” models of a circular product or service?

Tell students:

Click 1: �-PET plastic bottles can be recycled back into the same plastic bottle over and over.

Click 2:

-Bed frames are designed into key main parts and if one breaks the manufacturer can easily disassemble the parts and replace that single part and remanufacture the bed, preventing the customer from having to buy a whole new one. The old part can be broken down and reused into a new part.

Click 3:

-Buying clothes second hand is a way to reuse old discarded clothes giving new value and extending its life.

Click 4:

-Shops can offer refill options for household items like shampoo and soap, allowing customers to bring their own container instead of buying shampoo in a new bottle each time.

Click 5:

-Old jeans could be brought back to a store for a discount on their next purchase, in exchange the brand can repair and repurpose the material to be remade into new clothes.

Click 6:

-Using compostable seaweed-based film on fresh produce at the grocery store to replace single use packaging.

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Five Business Models of Circularity

Circular

Supplies

Resource

Recovery

Product Life

Extension

Sharing

Platform

Product As

A Service

Products made from fully renewable, recyclable, or biodegradable resource inputs.

Services that work to eliminate resources, materials, or waste from leaking into the environment and maximizing the value of it to reenter the loop.

Services that offer to extend the life of an otherwise discarded product through repairing, upgrading, or reselling back into the loop.

Sharing platforms allow people to collaborate and share a product amongst themselves without singular ownership by the customer.

Products that are used by one or more customers as a pay-as-you-use arrangement.

(Slide duration: 5min)

Ask students:

How are businesses creating more circularity?

Tell students:

There are five core business models that are creating the circular economy.

Circular Supplies: Products made from fully renewable, recyclable, or biodegradable resource inputs.

Resource Recovery: Services that work to eliminate resources, materials, or waste from leaking into the environment and maximizing the value of it to reenter the loop.

Product Life Extension: Services that offer to extend the life of an otherwise discarded product through repairing, upgrading, or reselling it back into the loop.

Sharing Platform: Sharing platforms allow people to collaborate and share a product amongst themselves without singular ownership by the customer.

Product As A Service: Products that are used by one or more customers through a pay-as-you-use arrangement.

The next slides will highlight some real-world examples of each circular business model in practice.

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Circular Supplies: Shoes made from plastic

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Resource Recovery: Waste to energy

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Product Life Extension: Takeback & repair service

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Sharing Platform: Ridesharing

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Product As A Service: Clothing rental

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What does the company do?

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Class Activity: Circular Business Case Study

Do they offer goods, services, or both to their customers?

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Which of the 5 circular economy business models does the company utilize?

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What linear problem is the company trying to solve through circularity?

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How do they keep materials in a closed loop system?

(E.g., recycle plastic bottles to make new products).

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How do they reduce or eliminate waste?

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Does their business model help regenerate natural systems?

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What added value do they offer customers and the

environment with their circular model?

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As a designer, how could you help make their business even more circular?

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Identify areas of circularity