At Oakdene Hollins, we strive to move towards a circular economy where we prioritise prevention, designing out waste and value retention. Moving away from a bottom-heavy process relying on landfill requires support in policy, creation of evidence bases, identifying research gaps, infrastructure needs, changing product design and more. But we must also be conscious that it considers processes beyond recycling. With so many factors and so many types of products and materials to consider, understanding how we move from a linear to a circular economy is more complicated than we think.

To put into context the three pathways, we must first understand the waste hierarchy. The waste hierarchy is a list of methods for managing waste. It prioritises ways to manage waste from the most to the least environmentally friendly, hence the name 'hierarchy'.

The UK Government defines it as "ranking waste management options according to what is best for the environment." Since 2011, it has been mandatory for businesses and public bodies that handle waste to follow the waste hierarchy. The hierarchy is outlined in Article 4 of the revised Waste Framework (Directive 2008/98/EC) and requires that waste is managed:

Without endangering human health
Without harming the environment
Without risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
Without causing noise or odour nuisance
Without adversely affecting the countryside or places of special interest

The waste hierarchy operates on five levels: prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal. The ideal option is to prevent waste altogether, with disposal as the last resort. The implementation of the Waste Framework Directive in 2008 brought about a change in our perception of the waste hierarchy

In 1990, our focus was mostly on disposal, with less emphasis on prevention, which is the opposite of what the hierarchy advocates. However, by 2010, there was a shift towards recycling and away from disposal. There was also a greater focus on prevention, although recycling was still given priority. In the future, by 2030, our goal is to fully meet the waste hierarchy by reducing our reliance on disposal, other methods of recovery and recycling whilst increasing reuse and prevention.

The graphic below depicts three options: the linear pathway, recycling economy and a circular economy. In a linear pathway we rely on landfill and disposal which we must move away from. As we transition to a more sustainable pathway we may move into a recycling economy whereby we rely heavily on recycling and meeting recycling targets. In the final system, we see the synergizing of value retention processes, including recycling to be a part of a wider network- this is the circular economy.

For most of us, recycling is part of our everyday activities and- can be an easy way to reduce our impact on the environment by reducing what is sent to landfills. Once a product has come to its end of life, recycling allows us to harness the value within the product. Instead of removing materials from the supply chain entirely, recycling can ensure that spent products can be used again – contributing to an essential part of the circular economy.

Whilst the recycling economy is more advanced than a linear pathway, it does not factor in wider value retention processes such as reuse, remanufacturing and refurbishment. Therefore, a recycling economy is limited. However, the circular economy moves away from just thinking about End of Life, EoL, and considers End of Use, EoU.

Therefore, it is critical that we move away from reliance on recycling and see it instead as a wider part of the circular economy and waste hierarchy. At Oakdene Hollins we recognise that we must move away from both linear and recycling pathways and towards prioritising prevention and reuse first. We asked one of our experts, Peter Lee, former Oakdene Hollins employee about his thoughts.

" The difference between the recycling economy and the circular economy needs to be understood and the circular economy ultimately prioritised. The recycling economy started with glass recycling, setting targets which were concerned about quantity recycled. The circular economy however, goes further, it is about the quality of the material/resource." - Oakdene Hollins former employee Peter Lee.

But how do we make sure we shift to a circular economy? What progress has been made? What is our current position? Moving towards a circular economy is challenging. The shift requires systemic, radical changes and innovations within business models and policies which are able to adapt to dynamic and complex systems.

Recycling is important, now and in the future for sustainability but, crucially, recycling should come as part of an extended package of value retention processes to move towards a circular economy.

Embracing the circular economy requires action to prevent and design out waste, and implement waste management strategies which work collectively to maximise value retention within resource loops. This being said, whilst VRPs and CE business models need to be prominent in the future to ensure planetary boundaries are met, it is important that the role of recycling isn't lost- recycling plays an essential part of the circular economy and as an accessible sustainable choice-making for consumers and businesses.

The future of recycling will not just depend on product/material demand- it will depend on action from policymakers and stakeholders to drive public awareness, enforce motivating policies for industries, collaboration, and understanding of the importance of other value retention processes, new technologies and the circular economy. It is therefore important that the sector is continually supported and developed through innovative research to conclude targeted actions for now and in the future to create synergies and realise the true potential of the circular economy.

Look out for our series of articles exploring how different sectors can transition to the Circular Economy. Get in touch to find out more.

Moving from a linear pathway, to a recycling economy to the circular economy- How can we get there?