A circular future: out of the trap of use-and-throw

What is thecircular economy? We will talk about it for a whole day in the event of the Messenger at the Auditorium of Rome with the ministers Costa and Gualtieri, companies, scientists and experts such as Braungart and Giovannini, students and even with a pop star like Marco Mengoni. Each with a story, an example to tell. In short, however, the circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, loaning, reusing, repairing, reconditioning and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. This extends the life cycle of what is produced, helping to minimize the amount of trash. Because once that good has finished its original function, the materials of which it is composed are reintroduced into the economic cycle thanks to a design that immediately poses the problem of continuity. Thus they can be reused several times within the production cycle up to consumption, generating additional value.

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Therefore, a process in evident contrast with the traditional one linear economic model, based instead on the typical extract-produce-use-throwing scheme, which in the synthesis “disposable"For a short period of time it has exalted the values ​​and the philosophy of consumerism as an end in itself. But in those years we still basked in the comforting idea that the planet had large quantities of raw materials and energy readily available at low prices. The illusion did not last long, if it is true that in just fifty years according to The Global Footprint Network – an association that calculates the day when the wealth of resources available for the current year is exhausted – we played half of the potential exploitation of the planet in the 12 months. So for 2019 the day of the beginning of the overfishing was set in July 29th: this means that we have exhausted our annual "budget" in just seven months. And, as far as we can see, the process is accelerating with a geometric progression.

Of course the transition from a linear model to a circular one is not something that takes a few weeks, above all it requires a profound cultural discontinuity. It is therefore necessary to learn to know the fundamentals of the reality that surrounds us, the relationship between different systems. For example, according to the definition given by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in a circular economy the flows of materials are of two types: biological ones, able to be reintegrated into the biosphere, and technical ones, destined to be revalued without entering into the biosphere.

It is therefore essential to understand how things influence each other within a whole, starting from the assumption that the elements must be considered as "suitable for", whether it is to build infrastructures or protect the environment or improve the social context.
Understanding a system – together with interconnection with other systems – is therefore crucial when trying to define and plan fixes for the system itself. If the trends, flows, functions and human influences are missing or misinterpreted, this could lead to disastrous results.
To avoid design errors, the in-depth study of the system must therefore be addressed to the whole without, however, neglecting the detail: even the design of the objects must therefore be modeled according to their recycling.

It is a new way of experiencing the planet and its riches, aware that they are not infinite. Today there is increasing talk of wasteful warfare, with the aim of preparing a less precarious future for our children. Yet even among the most attentive observers, few care about the fact that while it is struggling with the circular economy, much of the material transformed into objects lies unused for most of his life. Warehouses full of machinery waiting to be abandoned, boxes in the cellar full of clothes with little emotional value, items bought and used once a year or even less. It may be surprising to discover that a car lies unused for about 90% of its time against 60% of a car sharing (average values), but it is comforting the idea that we are finally taking note of it.

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