循环经济知识港 Vol. 2

深入解读循环经济

Circular Economy in detail

在第二期的课程中，大家会接触到经济与循环经济的概念、循环经济三个原则的具体细节以及循环经济的实践案例。

In this second online session, we will define “economy” and the idea of the circular economy, learn the details behind the circular economy’s three basic principles as well as its best practices.

什么是经济？

WHAT IS THE ECONOMY?

为了帮助理解循环经济，我们首先要理解的是到底什么是“经济”？

在下面这个短片中，循环经济教授Ken Webster到我们重回经济课的第一课——什么是经济？

To understand the circular economy we first need to understand what an economy actually is.

In this video, Ken Webster takes us right back to the basics of what an economy is.

什么是经济？A Flow of Wealth or a Wealth of Flows?

什么是循环经济?

RETHINK THE PROCESS -- WHAT IS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

循环经济是一种系统的经济发展模式，能够促进经济发展，造福商业、社会和环境。与“开发——制造——废弃”的线性经济发展模式不同，循环经济从本质上便具有可恢复性和再生性，旨在使经济增长摆脱对有限资源消耗的依赖。

An economy that is restorative and regenerative by design. In a circular economy economic activity builds and rebuilds overall system health. The concept recognises the importance of the economy needing to work effectively at all scales – for big and small businesses, for organisations and individuals, globally and locally.

什么是循环经济？ Re-thinking Progress: The Circular Economy

艾伦·麦克阿瑟基金会| 试图用上述图表去捕捉循环经济的本质，而这张图被形象地称为“蝴蝶图”。这张图试图捕捉材料、营养、成分和产品的流动，同时增加了财务价值的元素。

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has tried to capture the essence of the circular economy in the above image. Also called the “butterfly diagram”, it aims to capture the flow of capital, materials, components and products, whilst adding an element of financial value.

新的经济发展模式是对旧有模式的良好的“破坏” A Good Disruption

总的来说，这种新的经济发展模式的出现“扰乱”了之前的飞速发展的经济模式，但这是一种“良好的破坏”。上方视频为你具体讲述它如何通过“三大支柱”改善与人们生产、生活息息相关的“三大系统”。

In conclusion, the emergence of the new economic model “disrupted” the rapid development of the previous model, but it is a good “disruption”. We can see how pillars like “abundant, clean energy”, a “cradle to cradle material bank” and a “high productivity regenerative system” will improve three systems in society.

循环经济的基本原则是什么?

WHAT IS THE PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

原则一：延长产品和材料循环往复利用。KEEP PRODUCTS AND MATERIALS IN USE

如果我们可以将经济发展建立在资源有效利用，而不是资源耗竭的基础上，这会带来怎样的不同结果？

循环经济能够保证更多的能源、劳动力和原料在经济过程中不断循环往复利用。以此创造更多价值。这就意味着，在循环经济中，产品、部件和材料的利用率、持久度更高，再制造与回收再利用也更频繁。

What if we could build an economy that uses things rather than uses them up?

A circular economy favours activities that preserve value in the form of energy, labour, and materials. This means designing for durability, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling to keep products, components, and materials circulating in the economy. Circular systems make effective use of bio-based materials by encouraging many different uses for them as they cycle between the economy and natural systems.

原则二：从设计源头避免资源浪费和污染问题。DESIGN OUT WASTE AND POLLUTION

如果废弃物和污染，从最开始就不会产生，这会带来怎样的不同结果？

经济活动可能会对人体健康和自然系统造成破坏，通常是因为温室气体和有毒物质排放，大气、土地和水源污染，以及类似交通堵塞的结构性问题。循环经济不仅认识到了上述问题，还强调在设计之初就着重解决这些问题。

What if waste and pollution were never created in the first place?

A circular economy reveals and designs out the negative impacts of economic activity that cause damage to human health and natural systems. This includes the release of greenhouse gases and hazardous substances, the pollution of air, land, and water, as well as structural waste such as traffic congestion.

原则三：修复自然系 REGENERATE NATURAL SYSTEMS

如果我们可以做到的不仅仅是保护生态环境，而是积极的修复提高环境质量，这会带来怎样的不同结果？循环经济倾向于使用可再生资源，并重视对可再生能源的保护与开发。比如：给土地提供营养，增加土壤再生能力；或者放弃化石燃料，使用可再生能源。

What if we could not only protect, but actively improve the environment?

A circular economy avoids the use of non-renewable resources and preserves or enhances renewable ones, for instance by returning valuable nutrients to the soil to support regeneration, or using renewable energy as opposed to relying on fossil fuels.

循环经济实践案例

Best Practices of Circular Economy

案例一：ECOVATIVE: 遇见新“塑料”

ECOVATIVE: MEET THE NEW POLYSTYRENE

“我们使用蘑菇来生产全新的，可替代的塑料的材料。新材料的使用起来塑料别无二样，但是这是从粮食作物的废物中提取生产的，并且在使用之后也是完全可以生物降解的。”——Eben Bayer

“We’re using mushrooms to create an entirely new class of materials which perform a lot like plastic during their use but are made from crop waste and are totally compostable at the end of their lives.” – Eben Bayer

Ecovative生产可以完全降解的塑料包装制品，用来代替合成塑料产品。他们是用蘑菇的根——菌丝制作而成。这些菌丝在农业生产的副产品周边生产，他们的作用类似于胶水把这些低值副产品链接起来，可适用于任何形状。在产品不在被需要是，这样的包装可以在家里被降解。

Ecovative produce packaging products that are fully compostable alternatives to synthetic materials. They are made of mycelium – the ‘roots’ of mushrooms – grown in and around agricultural by-products with low economic value, acting thereby as a glue, and can take any shape needed. At the end of use, the packaging can be composted at home.

挑战 Issue：

一次性使用的包装，通常包括发泡聚苯乙烯的保护包装，是每年排向海洋800万吨塑料垃圾的罪魁之一。

Single-use packaging, which includes expanded polystyrene (EPS) protective packaging, forms a significant portion of the 8 millions tonnes of plastic that enter our oceans every year.

客户收益 What they offer customers:

Ecovative为发泡聚苯乙烯提出可一个替代方案。这种可以在家里被降解的解决方案提供了与以往塑料一样的保护性能，但是在成本上更有竞争性。

Ecovative offer an alternative to expanded polystyrene packaging. Their home compostable solution offers the same protective capabilities as EPS and is able to compete on cost.

循环解决方案 Circular solution:

生产过程中使用的原材料是农业给料中不能被利用或者喂养的部分，因为它的商业价值不高。他们在被清洗之后，会接种蘑菇疫苗。通过消化农业作物，菌菇会在5-7天内成型。在使用完之后，这些材料可以安全的在家里降解。

The raw material used is agricultural feedstock – parts of plants that cannot be used for food or feed, therefore with low economic value. These are cleaned and inoculated with mushroom tissue. The mycelium grows in 5-7 days by digesting the agricultural by-product and binding into the shape needed. At the end of use, the packaging can be safely composted at home.

商业价值 Business success story:

操作简单易行，成本小，是其主要的商业价值所在。其次，这个技术可以被用在多种不同的农作物给料上，这使得Ecovative可因地制宜选择原材料。自从2010年商业化运作其，Ecovative已经投入了一个新的设施厂，并且为世界500强公司提供产品包装。

The minimal processing required reduces the cost of the product and enables its economic viability. Additionally, the technique can use multiple feedstocks, allowing Ecovative to use locally available crops. Since commercially launching in 2010, Ecovative has opened a new production facility and is supplying their packaging to a growing number of Fortune 500 companies.

点击了解更多关于ECOVATIVE案例

案例二：英国制糖厂: 来自垃圾的“甜”头

BRITISH SUGAR : THE SWEET TASTE OF RESOURCE FROM WASTE

现今已经有许多的创业公司，通过新进的技术来加速循环经济的发展。然而，有些最好的技术，不是因为它“新”，而是因为基于流程的优化，以及对于能源和资源流的精准把握。持续精进、合作以及系统性思维是核心。在位于英国Norfolk的英国制糖厂，是个最好的例子。

There are plenty of hot startups with a new technology that can accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Yet some of the best examples don’t rely on new tech, but instead on the gradual evolution of processes and a precise understanding of energy and resource flows. Continual improvement, collaboration and systems thinking are the name of the game. At British Sugar’s Factory in Norfolk, these are very much on display.

挑战 Issue：

Wissington 是一家甜菜制糖厂，于1925年成立，同时也是英国制糖公司的一份子。T通过从英格兰东部生产的甜菜中制取糖分，这家制糖厂提供42万吨的年产量，且产品丰富多样。为了保证这样大量的年产量，需要350万吨的原材料，然而许多原材料最终都被填埋处理。

Wissington is a beet sugar plant established in 1925, as part of British Sugar. The plant supplies 420,000 tonnes of sugar a year in various formats, extracting it from the sugar beet grown around the East of England. To produce all of that sugar requires 3.5 million tonnes of raw material much of which could be destined for landfill.

循环解决方案 Circular solution:

Wissington的制糖厂一直不断致力于从运营中产生的废弃物中创造更多的价值。这使得制糖厂不仅仅制糖，同时生产12种其他可售产品。产品线包括化学制品、人类及动物的加工食品。譬如，在操作过程中被移除的土壤和石块并没有弃之不用，而是每年以15万吨的产量出售。Wissington同时也是英国第一个生物酒精燃料的家乡。英国制糖厂为此对产品的供给也做了相应的战略调整，用提取出来的甜菜糖浆生产5.5万吨/年的可再生燃料。

The team at Wissington have continually evaluated their operation to create value from previously wasted energy and materials. The result is a factory that doesn’t just produce sugar, but 12 different saleable products, from valuable chemicals to food for animals and humans. For example, The soil and stone removed during processing isn’t seen as waste, but is instead sold at a volume of 150,000 tonnes a year. Wissington is also home to the UK’s first bioethanol fuel plant, where British Sugar – reacting to the supply and demand of their core product – use some of the extracted beet sugar syrup to produce around 55,000 tonnes of renewable fuel each year.

商业价值 Business success story:

显而易见，英国制糖厂致力于搭建一个多元化的商业体系，这样的体系有助于商业全年运转，同时可以帮助他们抵抗外在的市场冲击。多元化的产品线带来了效益的多倍增长。同时，将废弃物转换中一种有用的资源也意味着降低了废弃物的处理成本。

British Sugar are clearly motivated to develop a diverse business that can run all year round and is resilient from external shocks. Producing such a wide variety of outputs provides multiple profit creation opportunities. Additionally, treating waste as a useful resource means costs such as landfill taxes are reduced.

点击了解更多关于英国制糖厂案例

案例三： 爵禄街耳机：无限循环的音乐体验

GERRARD STREET: A CIRCULAR MUSIC EXPERIENCE

爵禄街耳机是一家在荷兰起家的创业公司，他们的创业产品体现了循环经济的两大原则。产品的模块化设计，无胶水粘结，所以其耳机方便拆卸、修复、以及更新硬件。所用的标准化零部件都经久耐用，这样耳机85%的零部件可以循环往复利用。在商业模式上，与传统的零售方式不同，该公司向客户提供耳机的租赁服务。

Gerrard Street headphones is a startup based in the Netherlands who have embraced two key building blocks of the circular economy. The design of their products is modular and no glue is used so they are easy to disassemble, repair or add new hardware. The components are durable and standardised, so that up to 85% of can be looped into new models. The headphones are offered to customers as a subscription rather than a transactional purchase.

挑战 Issue：

在全球范围内，每年我们丢弃150万千克的耳机。有时仅仅是因为一个非常小的零部件故障，或者是技术的革新，我们只能选择丢弃整个耳机。我们如何能重新挖掘出那些被丢弃损失掉的价值呐？

Globally we throw away 15 million kg of headphones every year either due to simple mechanical faults or because of technology advances. How can we capture the value that is being lost in this discarded material？

客户收益 What they offer customers:

以相较低廉的价格，爵禄街耳机为其用户提供了高质量的产品（耳机）和贴心的服务（耳机租赁）。包括在每月租赁费之内，如果产品受损或者是新版耳机上市，客户可以轻松的退回原耳机，并且获得一个崭新的产品。

Gerrard Street Customers get both an affordable high quality product and a high level of service and support. Included in the monthly subscription fee, is a guarantee that if the product is damaged or an upgrade is available then the customer returns the old headphones and is sent a replacement.

循环解决方案 Circular solution:

精美的设计，高品质音质，模块化生产，易于拆卸、维修、升级、更新，是爵禄街耳机的卖点。新的租赁模式也保证任何损坏的、有故障的耳机，其85%的零部件都可以重新的循环利用。

Gerrard Street has designed beautiful, high sound quality headphones that are modular and easily disassemblable to facilitate easy repair, refurbishment or upgrade. The use of a subscription business model allows them to recover headphones at the end of their use and 85% of components are ultimately reused.

商业价值 Business success story:

将经久耐用的设计与租赁的商业模式结合，意味着爵禄街耳机可以通过最大化产品的利用次数增加盈利。通过重点关注标准化零部件，产品的可维修性，以及可回用性，这也大大降低了生产成本，因为这意味着对原材料需求和使用降低。同时，租赁模式也大大拉进了公司与客户关系，这保证了一个更加可靠与可预期的材料供应链。

Combining durable design with a subscription business model means that Gerrard Street can increase its revenue through maximising the use cycles for every pair of headphones produced. The focus on standardised parts, repairability and reuse reduces costs as fewer virgin materials are required. At the same time, the company can form a closer relationship with its customers, and has a more reliable and predictable material supply chain.

点击了解更多关于爵禄街耳机案例

循环经济知识港 Vol. 1
循环经济知识港 Vol. 3