Reduce your impact on nature

What is the circular economy?

The way we create and consume products is predominantly linear. It’s using up our planet’s resources at an unsustainable rate.

Natural resources like minerals, gases, plants or animals are all taken from somewhere. They’re transported and turned into products. The products are transported for sale. They’re used by customers for a time. Some of them do another round or two as ‘recycling’. But almost all of them end up burned or buried as waste - a dead end. Then more natural resources are taken.

Our global economy, our well-being and our survival depend on Earth's air, landscapes, waterways and oceans. But every stage of this linear “take, make and waste” approach disrupts, degrades and pollutes them.

To continue to create the products we need and enjoy we have to change the way we do it. We have to shift from linear systems, to circular ones. This means redesigning our products and sustainably sourcing the resources they're made from. That way they're never abandoned as pollution and waste. And new products won't always need new resources,  or the materials can be safely returned to the air, landscapes and oceans and contribute to their restoration.

Making this change will not be easy. But it's our best chance of reversing our negative impact on our world, making it positive.

How the circular economy tackles nature loss

The following diagram shows that only a combination of regenerating nature plus transforming production and consumption systems will turn around the sharp decline in global biodiversity, which is essential to our survival.

Designing out Waste in Aotearoa

Transitioning to a circular economy is crucial if we are to combat our waste challenges. In 2019 the Ministry for the Environment estimated that in Aotearoa New Zealand we send around 12.59 million tonnes of waste to landfill. That equates to around 740kg per person, making us one of the most wasteful nations in the OECD.

A core focus for us is Designing out Waste. It is estimated that more than 80% of all product-related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase of a product.

Changing how we design and make products is fundamental to the shift to a low carbon circular economy. Of course, we need to design solutions that meet customer needs. Those solutions need to use less resources and focus on materials that are safe, renewable and already in use. Products must be made to last longer and designed so they are easy to repair and, later, reprocessed when they reach end of life.