1.
7 TYPES OF PLASTICS

2.
LET’S DIVE RIGHT IN
BY LOOKING AT PLASTICS TO UNDERSTAND WHY CIRCULAR
ECONOMY IS IMPORTANT

3.
1907 2007
IMAGE: Mission BlueIMAGE: Photo Researchers Inc

4.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?

5.
ONLY OTHER THING THAT HAS GROWN AS FAST -
SINGAPORE!

6.
8 MILLION TONNES EVERY YEAR INTO OCEANS
=
1 LARGE GARBAGE TRUCK PER MINUTE
IMAGE: Why Files IMAGE: EarthZine

7.
IMAGE: CNN
85% OF MISMANAGED PLASTIC IS FROM ASIA

8.
PLASTIC ENDS UP IN GIANT OCEAN GYRES
IMAGE: NASA

9.
IMAGE: Ellen MacArthur Foundation
USED FOR DAYS, TAKES 100’S OF YEARS TO DECOMPOSE

10.
IMAGE: Guardian
YOU ARE EATING PLASTIC

11.
HOW DO WE FIX IT?
GOING CIRCULAR

12.
THE LINEAR ECONOMY WASTES RESOURCES
WASTE IS “DESIGNED OUT”
IMAGE: spenditrightubc.wordpress.com

13.
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS -
RETURNED TO THE SOIL OR USED AS ENERGY
IMAGE: Ellen MacArthur Foundation

14.
TECHNICAL MATERIALS (LIKE PLASTICS) -
DESIGNED TO BE RECOVERED, UPGRADED, REPAIRED, ETC
IMAGE: Ellen MacArthur Foundation

15.
CURRENT HOUSEHOLD ‘WASTE’

16.
Household ‘Waste’
Landfill
OrganicPlastic Metal Paper Glass Non-Recyclable
Recycling
CURRENT HOUSEHOLD ‘WASTE’
Electronics

17.
Household ‘Waste’
Landfill
Organic Non-Recyclable
Recycling Biogas
WE WOULD HAVE MATERIAL FLOWS
Plastic Metal Paper Glass Electronics

18.
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY ISN’T NEW
IT’S JUST THAT THE PRESSURE IS NOW GREATER THAN EVER

19.
WE ARE USING 1.6 TIMES THE EARTH’S CAPACITY

20.
PRICE VOLATILITY

21.
MATERIALS RUN OUT

22.
$1 TRILLION OF FOOD IS WASTED EACH YEAR

23.
WASTE GENERATION IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY

24.
GOVERNMENT TAX - EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
IMAGE: OECD

25.
$80-120 BILLION OF PLASTIC PACKAGING THROW AWAY
YEARLY
IMAGE: SALT

26.
THAT’S EQUIVALENT TO 6 TIMES CAMBODIA’S ECONOMY

27.
BECAUSE THE VAST MAJORITY OF PLASTICS ARE NOT RECYCLED

28.
EVERYONE HATES LANDFILLS

29.
BY CURRENT RATES - OUR COSTS WILL QUADRUPLE
IMAGE: Ellen MacArthur Foundation

30.
CAN PLASTIC PACKAGING BE CIRCULAR?

31.
HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE - REDESIGN, REUSE, RECYCLE

32.
FUNDAMENTAL REDESIGN

33.
“DESIGN OUT” WASTE & DESIGN FOR AN END USE
REPLACE PS/EPS & PVCINNOVATE
REDESIGN / DESIGN OUT SCALE UP

34.
WORLD’S FIRST RECYCLABLE FLEXIBLE POUCH

35.
REUSE

36.
REFILLABLE PRODUCTS
SAVING PACKAGING, TRANSPORT & ENERGY COSTS

37.
OTHER WAYS OF RETHINKING REUSE

38.
RADICALLY IMPROVED RECYCLING

39.
IMPROVING RECYCLING ECONOMICS & QUALITY

40.
EASIER TO COLLECT FROM CITIES THAN OCEANS
IT’S ALSO A LOT CHEAPER

41.
WASTE TO WEALTH - UPLIFTING THE INFORMAL SECTOR

42.
OTHER KEY STEPS FOR RECYCLING IN ASIA
LEGISLATION &
INFRASTRUCTURE
EDUCATION/
INVENTIVES
LABELLING + +

43.
A NEW MINDSET:
WHERE WASTE BECOMES
RESOURCE
URBANISATION -> 3X GROWTH IN
URBAN WASTE IN ASIA BY 2025!
SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL
RETURNS
QUICK RECAP

44.
RISING PER CAPITA WASTE IN ASIA - ‘GARBAGE TSUNAMI’

45.
WE NEED TO COLLABORATE & THINK SYSTEMICALLY
Fossil Fuel
Eg. Shell
Polymer Supplier
Eg. Dow
Plastic Manufacturer
Eg. Amcor
FMCG Company
Eg. P&G
Consumer
Waste Management
Companies
Govt

46.
SYSTEMS THINKING TO GO CIRCULAR

47.
Introducing
Forum for the Future
Forum for the Future is an independent, international
non-profit with a 20 year track record in driving
sustainable development.
Our purpose is to accelerate the big shift to a
sustainable future by transforming whole systems.

48.
What we do with partners
to reinvent the way the world works
1Innovate solutions to
systemic challenges
2Develop and deliver
transformational
strategies
3Equip people to drive
systemic change

49.
We partner with pioneering companies who recognise that
sustainability issues are already shaping their business context today,
and want to actively create the conditions for their future success.

50.
Business opportunity
• Drive business and industrial
innovation
• New sources of value creation
• Aligns with business priorities
(i.e. eco-efficiency, risk
management, decarbonisation,
lean thinking, resilience)
Why circular economy?
external pressures + business opportunity
External pressures
• Rising costs for material, energy,
land and water
• Risk of resource constraints and
price volatility
• Growing legislation placing
responsibility on business

51.
Forum for the Future,
2015
However…
barriers to achieving CE are complex & systemic

52.
Forum for the Future (2015)
Barriers are complex & systemic
requiring action across several spheres

53.
“The systemic nature of the circular economy requires
both the ecosystem and its individual components to
change. This means that governance, regulation
and business models could potentially be even
more important to achieving the transition than
design and engineering.”
Gregory Hodkinson, Chairman, Arup (September 2016)
It’s not just about the technology
trust an engineer!

54.
Forum for the Future,
2015
Where to start??

55.
Our circular economy investigations revealed
the need for a value network perspective
Disruptive innovation requires new
relationships to access to a greater
variety of assets and capabilities.
Circular business models requires
re-aligned interests so there is a
new flow of value to drive the more
sustainable performance.
To get started you need a dynamic
community of interested parties – the
‘source material’ for new relationships
The main barriers to a circular
economy are not primarily
technical
There are circular business
models
Thinking in terms of
‘business model’ is useful
Yes!
Sort of
As it turns
out, not
really!
= value network

56.
Value network?
here’s an example
• Industrial aluminium company,
HQ-ed in the US, subsidiary of
Aditya Birla (Indian
conglomerate)
• World’s largest producer of rolled
aluminium sheet
• Serves customers in automotive,
beverage cans, consumer
electronics and construction
sectors
• World’s largest aluminium recycler
• 2020 targets:
• Zero waste to landfill (from 60 K mt baseline)
• 80% recycled metal content (up from 30% baseline
announced in 2011, achieved 53% in 2016)
• Minimise primary aluminium input
• 95% reduction in GHG emissions associated with primary
aluminium production
• Minimise aluminium waste generated by customer
production processes and consumer use of end-product

57.
Novelis
an example

58.
Novelis
an example
To close the loop on materials,
there is a huge amount of
knowledge transfer required
between different players in the
value network
Blue arrows → where Novelis
cannot make change happen
on its own

59.
Novelis
an example

60.
Novelis
an example

61.
A value network perspective
not a simple feat
• Challenges traditional areas of control and
influence - and encourages greater
collaboration
• For some this may mean relinquishing control
and sharing the ownership (and value) of the
results
• “Giving up part of the pie to grow the pie”

62.
Source: McKinsey
ReSOLVE framework
Almost every company has a role to play

63.
Impact first: As an NGO, we exist to catalyse change, and
that’s our sole motivation.
Positive and ambitious: We believe a sustainable future is
possible - we’re tracking signals all the time - but we’ll only work
with people who share our appetite for bold leadership.
Partnership and collaboration: System change is only
possible when ‘unusual suspects’ work together – we make that
happen.
Forum for the Future is an
independent, global non-profit with a
20 year track record in driving change
towards a sustainable future.
www.forumforthefuture.org
@forum4thefuture
Jiehui Kia