‘Recycle and reuse’ more to keep climate change in check: Circle Economy report

KUALA LUMPUR: The world needs to recycle and reuse more of the billions of tonnes of materials each year to keep climate change in check, a research report by Amsterdam-based social enterprise Circle Economy, said on January 22, 2019.

The report said that only about a tenth of the nearly 93 billion tonnes of materials is utilized annually. These include minerals, metals, fossil fuels and biomass.

Harald Friedl, CEO Circle Economy told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that more efficient use of resources could help avoid overshooting the goals adopted in the 2015 Paris Agreement which is to limit the average rise in global temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally to 1.5°C, above pre-industrial times.

About 62 per cent of heat-trapping emissions, apart from land use and forestry, are released during the extraction, processing and manufacturing of goods, said the report. To battle climate change, government policy has so far focused on adopting renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and preventing deforestation, the report added.

The United Nations estimates that the amount of materials the world uses has tripled since 1970 and could get double by 2050 if appropriate action is not taken.

To reduce waste and emissions, economies should seek to become “circular” by reusing products. “To make things circular may be painful – from changing consumer and business habits to telling countries to put up the right regulations – but it is feasible,” Friedl said.

Asia is offering chances to promote a circular economy as its fast-developing economies and urbanisation are driving huge investments in construction and infrastructure, Friedl added.

The report urged the European countries to maximize the value of existing buildings by extending their lifespan, improving energy efficiency, and finding new uses for them.

The report emphasised on shifting to a circular economy by maximizing the use of products such as car sharing, recycling and reducing waste, use of low carbon materials like bamboo, wood instead of cement for construction purposes, and so on.

The report further stated that governments should adopt spending plans and taxation strategies that further encourage a circular economy. This can probably be done by raising taxes on emissions and excessive waste production while reducing them for labour, innovation and investments.