‘Supply Chain Collaboration’ Can Achieve Zero Waste

The finding comes in DS Smith’s ‘One step away from zero waste’ white paper, released 10/29/2014, which collates the findings of the company’s Supply Cycle Think Tank workshop (held at the Resource Expo on 5 March 2014).

Made up of panellists and delegates from a range of industry sectors, the workshops discussed how to ‘overcome potential blocks and realise potential opportunities’ for bringing about the circular economy.

Report Findings
The report stresses the importance of collaboration within the supply chain to move towards zero waste, including ensuring that all aspects of business operate ‘at the top of the waste hierarchy to ensure materials are used and reused as efficiently as possible’.

It looks at four ‘building blocks’ of the circular economy: product design; business models; reverse networks; and enabling conditions.

Product Design
The white paper outlines that the design of products and packaging plays an influential role in the circular economy, as it needs to keep in mind end-of-life recovery options, such as reuse and recycling.

Mark Shayler of eco innovation company Ape and workshop panelist said: “Eighty per cent of the environmental impact of products, minimum, is determined at the design stage. We can use design to reduce the environmental impact across the lifecycle, use design making products more circular.”

Business Models
Panelists outlined that in order for businesses to move to zero waste, resistance to change needs to be overcome, as there needs to be buy-in from senior management teams and the infrastructure within a company to implement change.

Markus Sils, Founder and Managing Partner of circular economy consultancy Returnity Partners and workshop panelist said: “There are two ways to make the circular economy business model more attractive. The first is to think about making the return loops more efficient, [with] better collection, innovation, better processing and simple design for taking apart. This drives a lot of value creation particular on the outer loops like recycling. But the real benefits sit in being more effective in product and component reuse and remanufacturing where ultimately you get a much higher margin, as more of the embedded material, labour and capital costs are preserved.”

Reverse Networks
The workshops identified that there is greater potential for the development of ‘reverse networks’ (or reverse logistics), where vehicles collect materials for recycling and return them to a central depot/business for processing once having dropped off loads.

Tom Campbell-White, DS Smith Commercial Manager and workshop panelist said that businesses could ask themselves the following questions: “Do we understand supply networks? Do we collaborate with those, and is it easy, simple? Have we got our own vehicles that can return materials to central locations or would we need to collaborate with the people who do our deliveries or collections (and can those backhauled journeys be maximised)? Do we need to think about companies that are outside the normal logistics? Can we really think outside the box?”

Enabling Conditions
Delegates also noted that there is a lack of political leadership with clear direction for the circular economy. While not wishing for ‘over subscriptive enforcement’, the report outlined that many felt relevant guidance would be ‘useful’. Despite this, many doubted that there was the ‘positive and powerful leadership required to make the changes across the whole of the economy and for all to benefit from the potential opportunities’.

As such, delegates thought ‘clear policy framework’ with relevant and specific government support would be required to make a ‘step change’ towards a circular economy.

Ray Georgeson of the Resource Association and workshop panelist said: “We need a stronger [framework] than we presently have. Markets in my view have often worked better where intelligent regulations worked with markets. I liken it to the way government’s shape other policy areas, such as health or defence spending.”

‘Designing Waste Out of the Supply Cycle’
Concluding, Mathew Prosser, European Commercial Director, DS Smith, Recycling Division, said: “Instead of treating waste as waste we need to see the value in it. There needs to be recognition of the cost, environmental and sustainable benefits of turning these materials back into something more useful once more, rather than directing waste to waste-to-energy or landfill sites.”

He added: “Designing waste out of the supply cycle and turning 100 per cent of discarded materials back into something useful once is the only true way to achieve zero waste.”

Source: Resource Media