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The Circular Economy for Regional Resilience

Thomas L. Theis

Institute for Environmental Science and Policy

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MAWAC-ENAR �Water Research & Innovation Workshop, March 20-21, 2023

Tandon School of Engineering Polytechnic Institute, NYU

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What is Waste?�Depends…

  • Non-economic social sciences/humanities: waste is highly contextual and historically constructed. Waste is not a fixed category but is based on judgements about value that are often connected to issues of power and difference (e.g. gender, race and affluence).
  • Economics and business focus on waste as a value proposition. It is waste because it “has no value” and does not increase societal well-being. But what actually makes it waste are “missed opportunities” or a residual resource that is not being fully utilized.
  • Physical and natural sciences view waste as inevitable due to the laws of thermodynamics. But we can improve material processes so that waste does not accumulate faster than it can be taken up by other processes (natural and human). Thus, new technologies (e.g. renewable energy, recyclable polymers, blockchain), different paradigms (circular economy, circular city initiatives), and other innovations in product and system design can lessen waste problems.

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Chicago MSA 10,857 mi2

Population 9.99M

GRP ~$700B

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Rural Area 8613mi2

Population ~1.1M

GRP ~$46B

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North Central Illinois Study Area

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Critical Questions?

  • The circular economy has three aspirational principles
    • reduce waste,
    • retain material value,
    • regenerate nature
    • But to what extent can these be measured or verified? Are new methods of analysis and data management needed?
    • What does the economics of circularity look like?
    • What are the new technologies or system/product designs that can reduce waste generation and improve retention?
    • How can consumers be incentivized to participate more fully in waste recovery and management?
    • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies come closer than most to incorporating life cycle thinking into waste management. But what are the barriers to more comprehensive EPR laws?
    • And what will the impacts of climate change be on the transition to CE? Conversely, can CE measurably reduce GHG emissions?

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(Source: 1 Panel A (blue): Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse 2) Panel B (light green): National Caucus of Environmental Legislation 3) Panel C (purple): American Progressive Plastic Alliance, the Colorado Sun, National Caucus of Environmental Legislation. 4) Panel D (red): National Conference of State Legislatures 5) Panel E (orange): The United States Public Interest Research Group 6) Panel F (dark green): US Composting Council).

State initiatives for comprehensive waste management

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Circular Economy, Life Cycle, and Facilitation of Business Models that may be optimized based on the Blockchain Environmental Asset Tracking System BESSE platform.

 

BESSE