The avalanche of waste that comes from our bins, factories and gardens is now being viewed as one of the most exciting commodities in our economy.
As a result, one company which was once employed to collect and treat our waste is now reinventing itself as champions of the circular economy. The key ingredient is innovation. Recycling isn’t a new concept. But who ever heard of plastic from sewage, or platinum from street sweepings? Right now an explosion of new technologies is multiplying the materials it is possible to save from the waste stream and put to good use.
The idea that we can consume and reuse materials over and over again is a revolution that Veolia UK senior executive vice-president Estelle Brachlianoff likens to the discovery of the Earth being round - so fundamental is it to the way we build our lives.
Brachlianoff says environmental solutions provider Veolia has positioned itself “at the forefront of this revolution”. She sees the company’s future as a link in the circular chain, rather than the end of the line.
“We’ve changed our business model from one that was very traditional to a manufacturer of green products and green energy. Which means that we are transforming ourselves from being a service company to a mining company. Because actually what we do is mine the waste flows or waste water flows to find what’s interesting to transform it and to basically give another life to those materials.”
Beyond bottles and cans, the circular economy envisions a world in which nothing that can be used again is lost from the supply chain. There is now a technological arms race going on to capitalise on the opportunities hidden amongst the tens of millions of tonnes of garbage Britain currently sends to landfill.
Brachlianoff says the model is thriving because new techniques not only bring environmental benefits they are also highly profitable.
“Ever since Defra quantified at £23bn the annual savings that businesses in the UK could deliver by implementing the circular economy, companies have started working together to improve the sustainability of their supply chains. Collaboration is vital to maintain the momentum because no one has all the answers and some of the world’s biggest brands are taking up the challenge.
“What is vital is that is that we start to change our thinking in terms of a world where products are made from recycled materials which are reused and recycled as standard. We have to get the message across that recovered plastics, metals, fibres can be prepared and cleaned to higher standards than the virgin materials if necessary. We know where they come from, have a guaranteed source of supply and prices are competitive.”
It was a quite a strategic shift for Veolia a few years ago when we decided to be at the forefront of the circular economy,” she says. “The environmental sustainability agenda is a business agenda too. It is the same. It’s the strategy of the company. This is not a separate something, it is not green washing that we’ve seen so much in this respect.”
In just a few years, the circular economy share of Veolia UK’s operation has grown to 20% of its £1.7bn turnover. By 2019 it will be 40%. This type of growth and return has sparked more and more investment in innovation. By 2018 it would have invested £2bn in UK operations to build a nationwide network of green infrastructure.
The money allows for the development of projects that mine corners of the waste stream that have so far gone untouched. “Each month, or each three months we close another loop,” says Brachlianoff.
Investment also allows for the development of new products from unusual sources. Veolia has opened a facility in Warwickshire that recycles street sweepings and has found it holds precious metals emitted by catalytic converters that can be ‘mined’. It is also piloting a programme that is producing plastic from human sewage. While this research is not unique, Brachlianoff believes Veolia can make it commercially viable in the near future.
“As opposed to producing plastic out of oil, we can produce it out of human sludge and instead of wastewater plants not being very useful, we are increasing the value of it [sewage] by transforming it into plastic,” says Estelle. At this stage, the project has produced plastic coins (“like little casino chips”) that she says are comparable to the plastics we use in products every day.
“Human imagination is the only constraint here,” says Brachlianoff. “We’re doing things now that 10 years ago I never would have imagined would have been possible. People’s perceptions have not caught up to an industry that sees its future as almost boundlessly creative.”
If you have an innovation you’d like share, get in touch at Living Circular or on Twitter using #CircularIdeas. The top five will be featured on the hub
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Veolia, sponsor of the rethinking resources series
