Recycling was to be the world’s knight in shining armour. However, as our understanding of sustainability grows, we now look towards a circular economy rather than a linear one. So, whilst recycling is important, it should be a last resort, as recycling in itself has a carbon footprint.
To be truly sustainable, we need our products to stay in the ‘use loop’ for as long as possible. Once the ‘use loop’ has been exhausted, we can look to recycle the materials, producing a new ‘use loop’ in the process. When we manufacture these products we need to do so with the intent of creating a ‘use loop’ that lasts as long as possible.
Once in the loop, we focus on reuse, refurbishment and up-cycling to ensure life extension and the longest possible ‘use loop’ before we resort back to the recycling process.
