Report | World Economic Forum released major development trend: aim at circular consumption, there will be no more garbage in the future

"in order to feed and clothe ourselves in the way we live in the 21st century, we have overconsumed at least 56% of the biological carrying capacity of the earth." This is a sentence in the Earth Vitality report (Living Planet Report) jointly prepared by the Zoological Society of London and the World wide Fund for Nature in 2020. A large number of shocking data reveal that the relationship between human beings and ecosystems is fraught with problems. The relationship between human beings and the ecosystem has been fundamentally unbalanced.

The unlimited growth of rubbish is piled on the ground, discharged into the sea, and constantly deposited, which is the clearest "footprint" that human beings have left on nature. Most of these wastes are in the form of non-biodegradable plastics, and only 14% of all plastic packaging waste is recycled; only 2% of them are effectively recycled and processed into items that can continue to be used; most of the recycled materials are useless and are thrown into landfills or the ocean after only one recycling.

Waste means that people do not fully acquire the value of their means of production. These durable materials can generate value through multiple uses in a few months or years, but we only use them for a single, short time in the economy and quickly discard them. Even if the recovery rate is greatly improved, it will not solve the problem of abandonment.

So the question worth thinking about is why so much rubbish is generated in the first place and why resources are invested in garbage cleaning and disposal, instead of reducing garbage in the first place, and whether there is a better choice to change the concept.

The World Economic Forum's report on the Future of Recycling consumption patterns (Future of Reusable Consumption Models), completed in collaboration with Kearney, responds to these thoughts at its root, clearly demonstrating another model for reducing plastic waste. In this model, garbage collection is no longer limited to reuse-discarded items will eventually no longer be regarded as "rubbish", but objects that are still useful and enter a new stage of value creation.

The report presents the core themes and key findings of the World Economic Forum's "shaping Future consumption (Shaping the Future of Consumption)" platform. The platform has been committed to promoting responsible consumption patterns that are more friendly to humans and the planet, addressing environmental degradation caused by plastic pollution through the Consumer beyond one-off consumption Program (Consumers Beyond Disposability initiative).

The first half of "the Future of Circular consumption patterns" discusses the three main actors needed for systemic change: consumers, business, and government. These three will determine the speed and trajectory of the system's transition to reuse. Consumers are agents of systemic change, and their calls for sustainable products will drive demand. Enterprises are the actors of change, and they will promote technological and business model innovation with their own capabilities. Government departments are the supervisors, and their actions and initiatives will increase the scale of reform.

In order to achieve a reuse-centric economy, these participants have different challenges to overcome. For consumers, the main concerns are the convenience, affordability and safety of reusable packaging.

For enterprises, the main challenges include the lack of infrastructure, the uncertainty of profitability, and how to fully achieve brand differentiation.

For government departments, they must deal with budget shortages and constantly update incentives to encourage mass recycling rather than reducing waste. In addition, the Government still lacks standardized tools to assess the economic, environmental and social benefits of reuse.

Despite the difficulties, circular consumption itself brings a lot of opportunities to create new value and help entrants overcome these obstacles. Reuse consumption promotes the transfer of value from the early stage of the production cycle (including material extraction, manufacturing) to the later stage (including sales, marketing, return logistics).

For consumers, the reuse model drives them to build deeper relationships with brands, especially those related to well-recognized sustainability principles, creating a sense of value. Enterprises will meet a large number of new opportunities, including the production and processing of new materials, cleaning, refilling, branding and retail. Even manufacturers have the opportunity to reap a lot of benefits by moving to "manufacturing as a service", producing and leasing reusable packaging and recycling at the end of the product life cycle.

In addition, the development of recycling consumption can help government departments reduce the demand for waste management projects and save a lot of money. The establishment of reuse systems and consumer value education will no longer be just the work of enterprises, government departments can help promote circular consumption patterns through third-party cooperation, the establishment of standards, incentives and subsidies, and the development of necessary public infrastructure. (the following figure shows the role diagram of circular consumption pattern)

So how to build a circular consumption model? the report introduces the reuse Feasibility Framework (the Reuse Viability Framework), a proprietary tool created by the Consumer beyond one-off consumption Program (the Consumers Beyond Disposability initiative). The framework aims to address some of the most important issues raised by business leaders and government decision makers about reuse: how to make reuse viable and scalable. Through the analysis of the feasibility framework of reuse, the report finds that the truly successful, large-scale and systematic examples of reuse have the following six characteristics:

1. Delivery model efficiency: shared reuse systems and short-distance logistics cycles enable most categories to achieve a scalable economy (scalable economics).

two。 Consumer experience: consumers have the opportunity to use a variety of reusable items that are not inferior to disposable items in terms of convenience, user experience and other user satisfaction.

3. Technological progress: the use of QR code and radio frequency identification (RFID) and other technologies to create value-added services, extend the service life of packaging containers, and standardize back-end processes.

4. Regulation: regulation combines reused incentives with integrated policies such as quantifying reuse targets and expanding producer responsibility.

5. Cultural change: a wide range of cultural shifts drive consumers and institutions to adopt reusable rather than disposable products.

6. Impact display: general disclosure standards and definitions for reuse need to be established.

By 2030, the report forecasts the development prospects of the reuse model in three scenarios based on the recommendations of governments, large non-governmental organizations, and transnational institutions.

In the first scenario, according to the recommendations of France and the European Parliament, 10 per cent of 20 per cent of plastic packaging will be reused by 2030, which will reduce marine plastic waste by an average of 45 per cent per year.

In the other two scenarios, systemic change can lead to 20-40% (scenario 2) or even 40-70% (scenario 3) reusability of plastic packaging, as proposed by some governments and large non-governmental organizations. it depends on the product categories that are reused and specific areas where reuse can be mainstreamed. In scenario 3, the amount of reusable plastic packaging is equivalent to 50% of the world's annual landfill plastic waste, 185% of marine plastic waste.

Any of these three cases-especially the third one-can be said to be an unprecedented achievement brought by the recycling consumption model,