We all know recycling isn’t enough. Tackling the overlapping environmental emergencies we currently face requires a more fundamental shift than what we do with products and packaging once they’ve reached end-of-life. To really have an impact, we also need to consider the start of a product’s life and ensure that what we consume is derived from renewable materials.
Arguably, this is the only way to create a true circular economy, the goal of which is to keep resources in use for as long as possible, and waste nothing. It’s a goal that preoccupies Riikka Paarma, director of circular economy at renewable materials company Stora Enso. “The fact that we need to tackle this linear economic issue and move to a circular world has come as a sort of revelation to wider society over the last 10 years or so.”
Stora Enso is in the business of trees – planting, harvesting and turning them into all manner of products, from wooden elements to food packaging to material used for insulation. Wood is, if sustainable forestry methods are observed, renewable and, one could argue, inherently part of a circular economy.
Of all the materials collected for recycling across the EU, paper and card has the highest recycling rate, at just under 86%. In addition, wood-based materials generally don’t pose as much of a threat to the natural world as single-use plastics. “Packaging materials made directly from straw or wood fibres disintegrate much more easily and do not produce the same problems when lost in nature,” says Lars Ottosen, professor of biotechnology and head of the department of engineering at Aarhus University in Denmark.
So, from a sustainability point of view, wood looks pretty good. But things are a bit more complicated, particularly if you’re making decisions for your business about what’s best for people and the planet, as well as your bottom line.
The concept of a circular bioeconomy stands slightly apart from the larger umbrella concept of a circular economy. According to the European commission, a bioeconomy is the “production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy”. Now add in the concept of circularity. Not only should these bio-based products and energy be renewable and natural, they should ideally not become waste, but rather be repurposed or recycled, able to biodegrade or otherwise be utilised for as long as possible. Ultimately, a circular bioeconomy runs on the principle of using renewable resources to power society and industry, as well as the use of renewable materials to create the products needed by businesses and consumers.
The concept of the circular bioeconomy might sound newfangled and niche, but it’s actually an ancient idea, and there are big names behind it. The Prince of Wales recently established the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (pdf), which aims to raise awareness of, and investment in, the circular bioeconomy, as well as making the case for the sustainable management of forests.
Stora Enso, as a purveyor of wood products (which are bio-based products), fits neatly into the sector. According to Paarma, Stora Enso has always been a part of the circular bioeconomy, but it was so self-evident as to not be discussed explicitly. “One key aspect in sustainable forest management is that we ensure that forest always regenerates after harvesting, which makes it a regenerative resource. And that is kind of the underlying factor of the whole bioeconomy and the starting point, but at the same time, it makes us naturally circular,” she says.
But circularity is about more than just replacing fossil-based materials with renewable ones. Recycling obviously has a key role to play in any circular economy, even if it isn’t enough by itself. Bear in mind, however, that there’s a difference between the words “recyclable” and “recycling”: the difference between potential and actuality. After all, for anything to be truly recyclable, it must actually get recycled.
Businesses must also make sure they’ve thought about total lifecycle when procuring products for use in their supply chains. This includes not only investigating whether a product or packaging is recyclable, but also how it was designed. “[It’s important] you are not just designing for one product and one end use, but really thinking about it as part of a system,” says Paarma. “We have now established a set of circular design principles at Stora Enso, which we are currently implementing in our product management and innovation processes, to tackle the question of how we think big, how we think in a systems-level manner.”
The business is also starting to look at reuse. “Reusable packaging is super interesting and something we are actively looking into – what it means for us, and what sort of business models and partners we’ll need for that,” she says.
As a business decision-maker, the choices around sustainable packaging and procurement can seem overwhelming. Opting for wood-based packaging over another material, or adopting an entirely different business model such as reuse, requires careful consideration. Nevertheless, from a consumer-demand point of view, the desire for alternatives to plastic is significant. A survey of 7,000 consumers from across Europe found that if offered the same product in card-based or plastic packaging, 92% would choose the plastic-free option.
Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to sustainability strategies. But with some reports estimating that the circular bioeconomy will present a $7.7tn opportunity for business by 2030, the concept seems worth investigating.
For more information about Stora Enso’s renewable materials and eco-friendly solutions, visit storaenso.com
