The linear economy is dead
Wayne Hubbard understands the need for innovative solutions to address pressing environmental challenges. CEO of ReLondon, a partnership of the Mayor of London and London’s boroughs to improve waste and resource management, Hubbard wants to revolutionise our relationship with ‘stuff’.
Presented by Sustainability Victoria’s Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC) in conversation with Aurecon’s Jodie Bricout, Hubbard discussed what it takes to transform our cities into leaders in the low-carbon circular economy.
As part of our spotlight on fast-tracking businesses to eliminate waste, we unpack his analysis of global trends in the circular economy for a Victorian context.
Wayne Hubbard in conversation with Aurecon’s Jodie Bricout at Sustainability Victoria. ‘Everybody who's involved in collecting waste or … involved in sharing … they're all taking their part and helping to save the world from disastrous climate change. And I think that's quite empowering.’ Circular Economy – 5 business models
As the circular economy gains momentum across the globe, Hubbard insists these 5 guiding business models are key:
- Designing out waste or making your product from stuff that has recycled input.
- Making your product recyclable.
- Making your product durable or designed for disassembly and repair.
- Using underutilised capacity through the sharing economy.
- Leasing or renting a product as a service, known as 'servitisation'.
‘And that's it!’ Hubbard says. ‘That's easy. That's the circular economy. So, any business that exhibits one or more of those business models is in my view, by definition, circular and by definition is about reducing waste.’
The good old days
‘This is all old learning, isn't it?’ Hubbard knows the circular economy is not a new concept. He explains how we see a natural economic incentive for businesses to ‘dematerialise’.
In 2011, Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service had more than 16 million subscribers. It paved the way for the streaming service which currently boasts 238.39 million members. Hiring formal wedding attire is a circular initiative that businesses and consumers enjoy without realising they’re contributing to the circular economy.
‘I mean it's been packaged up and presented in a way that I think citizens, and crucially business, can understand,’ Hubbard says.
But a major accelerator that catapulted the circular economy into the 21st century was the launch of the iPhone.
‘It's unlocked this entrepreneurial tech community who have enabled the circular economy.’
We’re all familiar with and potentially participants in sharing-economy examples – the global behemoths like eBay, AirBnb and Uber – but there’s also the community sharing platforms, where citizens are exchanging stuff at the hyper-local level. A WhatsApp group for your street where everyone shares everything from backyard lemons to toddler toys, or your local toy library or men’s shed.
At a time when the average householder feels the pinch and volatility of market commodity prices, sharing and reuse is a logical and exciting development to be placed back in the hands of citizens.
‘So, these things I think enabled us to kind of take advantage of the trend towards more sharing, more exchange,’ Hubbard says. ‘And that's all part of the circular economy.’
According to The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World, the pathway for most European cities is to reduce consumption-related emissions, which currently sits around 12 tonnes per person.
‘Currently London’s down to about 10. By 2030, that 12 needs to be about 6. And by 2050, that 6 needs to be 0.7... right? And just think of the behaviour change we need to get from 12 tonnes per capita to 0.7 by 2050.
‘That means everybody who's doing that work, every citizen, everybody who's involved in collecting waste or everybody involved in sharing … they're all taking part and helping to save the world from disastrous climate change. And I think that's quite empowering.’
The carbon perspective
Forty-five percent of the world’s emissions come from materials.
Hubbard sites the Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s influential paper, Completing the picture: How the circular economy tackles climate change. Released in collaboration with Material Economics, the research explains how the transition to renewables will address 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
‘You can't switch the energy system, flick a switch … and solve that problem.’
To limit global warming we must tackle the remaining 45%.
The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World focuses on sectors where leaders, businesses and the public can take action to change consumption habits, significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
‘[It] crucially looks at that through a consumption-based, emissions lens – through a materials lens. The extraction, production, transport, use and disposal emissions associated with “stuff” to the end user.
‘Think about the current built environment – how it can be used as a materials bank for new buildings at the outset?
‘If you do need to demolish it, what's going to be put up in its place? How's it going to use recycled material? How are you going to build in layers? What's the operational lifecycle of this thing going to look like?’
Cutting carbon through circularity in Victoria’s built environment
Construction and demolition activities generate a substantial amount of waste at home. According to Victoria's waste projection model, 7.7 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste were generated in Victoria in 2019–20. While a large proportion was recycled (86% in 2019–20), there are opportunities for waste reduction, reuse, and further recycling.
Sustainability Victoria’s CEBIC invests in Victorian organisations to think smarter, innovate, and go circular. The centre funded D5 Building Group to reduce waste through a circular modular housing system, designing out waste and solving ongoing challenges around housing supply and affordability.
Industrialised construction, particularly through off-site manufacturing or prefabrication, could be a way to reduce waste, improve material flows, and enhance quality and efficiency. However, commercial advancement of off-site manufacturing in Australia has been limited.
In Victoria, CEBIC has provided funding to reduce 50% of construction waste through prefabrication. The project will also reduce waste in the local timber supply chain and provide a state-of-the-art upgrade to machinery and tooling.
More than an environmental issue
According to Hubbard, the circular economy tends to reside in the waste department.
‘But it also really needs to sit in the economic development department. And the procurement department… It needs to be kind of sitting across government,’ he says.
In the UK, Hubbard led the implementation of the London Plan Guidance Circular Economy Statements, putting circular economy principles at the heart of new building design and adding requirements around end-of-life planning.
It treats building materials as resources rather than waste, and puts in place a clear hierarchy, prioritising the retention of existing structures above demolition, where this is the more sustainable and appropriate approach.
‘System change, right?’ Hubbard says. ‘So, everyone has a part to play in this … business, civil society, and government all need to have a symmetrical relationship in changing the system. And obviously we don’t. We have an asymmetrical relationship, which means some parts are pulling harder than others.’
Doing business differently for our sustainable future
Sustainability Victoria knows that Victorian businesses are central to our transition to a circular economy. We’re investing in Victorian businesses to think smarter, innovate and ‘go circular’ – transforming how they use resources, embedding new approaches to sustainability and developing future-proof models to design out waste.
Hubbard is hopeful. ‘I think that Australia is on the verge of becoming a circular economy leader because you have the benefit of all the work that's out there,’ he says.
Innovating to avoid or design out waste will give Victorian business and industry a competitive edge – boosting productivity and future-proofing our economy as we cut waste to landfill and reduce emissions to meet our target of net zero emissions by 2045.
‘I love the narrative that you give people when you explain that changing their behaviour can save the world. You know, one behaviour at a time.
‘What I do firmly believe is that the linear economy is dead or dying ... We’re going to have a circular economy or we’re gonna be toast. By disaster or design, things are going to change. So, let's design it.’
What's next?
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