What is the circular economy in a simple way? It is an economic and industrial system that seeks to restore, regenerate, and prevent pollution in everything related to the environment. It is about working to eliminate waste from its source. These can be productively used over and over again, thus creating additional value. • The circular economy contrasts with the traditional linear economic model, based mainly on the 'use and throw away' concept, which requires large quantities of cheap and easily accessible materials and energy. • March 30 is commemorated as the International Day of Zero Waste; this was proclaimed by the UN with the objective of promoting a circular economy, reducing pollution, and protecting world ecosystems. INTERVIEW Diana Peláez, Leader of Environmental Management at Tecnológico de Monterrey, answers three questions for Metro World News: 1. For example, one of the major actions that cities and countries can implement towards a circular economy is the proper separation of waste, which will facilitate the efficient use of it,” states Gisela Galicia. Similarly, the expert specifies that it is urgent to reduce or eliminate the use of single-use plastics in order to achieve a waste-free society. “Technically, most single-use plastics are recyclable, but their recycling is difficult, costly, and often unfeasible due to their small size, food contamination, or low quality, resulting in a very low recycling rate,” she specifies. Regarding waste, she believes it should be seen as raw material to make other things. “It is worth noting that when we talk about garbage, it is because different types of waste have been mixed, unlike when there is a proper separation of waste. When a product reaches the end of its life, its materials remain within the economy as much as possible thanks to recycling. It goes far beyond waste separation and recycling. Our current economic model is based on consumption and disposal. This is known as a system that contemplates things in a 'cradle to grave' scheme, representing the traditional linear lifecycle where a product is extracted, used, and discarded, becoming waste. It is a system that seeks to eliminate waste generation to achieve a waste-free society or world and regenerate natural systems. 3. This is the lifecycle we have been taught. All of them have to do with the world we inhabit, so all of us can contribute from the areas in which we move, regardless of what we have studied or what we do during our time in life. In this way, the product lifecycle is extended. • In practice, it implies minimizing waste. In this sense, everything that human beings design should be conceived to avoid it becoming waste or garbage. Therefore, it is a human design error to talk about and have waste. On the contrary, it is necessary to encourage products that consider the circular economy from the beginning, from its design and from the material used, throughout its lifecycle. We must rethink the way we produce and, of course, the way we consume, conceptualizing that each product has a function even when it reaches the end of its lifecycle. 2. That is the step that should be seen as the beginning of the virtuous circle in which things that are reused or transformed and return to the circular economy cycle,” she concludes. THE KEYS • The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, renting, reusing, repairing, renewing, and recycling existing materials and products as many times as possible to create added value. And when we talk about changing the world in general, on any subject, the impact on the number of people who have educational systems is immense, and they have the power to positively influence many generations of people who will eventually be part or engine of those changes. To achieve a waste-free world, it is important that all levels of the education systems, including universities, integrate within their curricula and academic offerings the topics related to environmental sustainability and the progress of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. There is no academic field that is not related to sustainability. It is for the good of all, since we all inhabit this planet. However, nature does not work that way, because even when something dies, life becomes life again. For example, a ripe orange that falls from the tree and rots at your feet becomes nutrients for the tree, and in the near future, more oranges will appear. Is it too idealistic to think of a world without waste, or is it an achievable goal? I believe it is an achievable goal, and there are countries, including Japan, that are very efficient in their waste management. If all of us as a society worked towards that objective, it would undoubtedly be achieved. However, it is a matter that depends on many factors and many actors. In nature, as a functional system, everything has a cycle and everything fulfills a function. The same happens with the leaves and branches that fall from the trees. A recent UN report on the occasion of the International Day of Zero Waste warns that our ever-increasing consumption of resources is the main cause of the planetary triple crisis of climate change and environmental degradation, pollution, and loss of nature and biodiversity. Added to this, if we introduced the solid municipal waste generated in one year into standard transport containers and lined them up one after another, the total amount would be enough to go around the world 25 times. If we remain with our arms crossed, urban solid waste generation will increase to 3.8 billion tons annually by 2050. In this sense, for some years now, especially since the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were announced in 2015, the concept of the circular economy is gaining more and more strength. SENSE OF URGENCY And it is for good reason. Gisela Galicia, president of the Mexican Association of Bioplastics, affirms that climate change has made moving towards a circular economy urgent, “and all of us can contribute to reducing our environmental footprint.” “The transition does not depend on a single actor. On this path, towards a waste-free world, what role should educational systems and universities play? The role of educational systems is key. 'Cradle to grave' designs dominate current manufacturing. On the contrary, the 'cradle to cradle' scheme of the circular economy proposes a regenerative design approach where products are created to be reused infinitely as biological or technical nutrients, eliminating the concept of garbage. Administrations, companies, and citizenship have room and responsibility to make better decisions.”
