Circular Economy as an Opportunity for Developing Countries
Circular economy presents an opportunity for developing countries to generate wealth, reduce environmental footprint, and promote sustainable practices. By extending product lifetimes, reusing resources, and minimizing waste, developing nations can benefit from economic interests while complementing government interventions. Initiatives by organizations like UNIDO focus on cleaner production, recycling industry development, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects to drive innovation and business development. Partnerships with member states and multilateral institutions are crucial in advancing circular economy principles globally.
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Presentation Transcript
Circular Economy a concept for developing countries ? Stephan Sicars UNIDO, Department of Environment
Generate Increased Wealth Reduce Environmental Footprint Green Products w/out Toxics, Long-life, Recyclable Cleaner Production w/Less Resource Use Circular Economy Extend lifetime through Better Service / remanufacturing / intensified use Reduce Resource Dependency Separate Waste, Re-use Resources Minimise Waste Collect at End- of-Life
Assumptions . Challenged Environmental pollution can be solved end-of-pipe We believe this is neither fully effective nor very efficient. Circular Economy prevents pollution Circular Economy is about waste treatment Recycling is todays starting point. Potential for industrial development clearly demonstrated Innovations for better use of resources during useful product lifetime will be increasingly important There will be much waste reduction from better use, probably more than from recycling Increasing demand for products has only a moderate impact on global resource costs Several resources are bound to get scarce and costly. Rapid change likely once tipping point reached If major consuming economies change their internal business model, it has only limited repercussions on developing countries Delivery into a circular economy market changes requirements, value, volume Secondary raw materials are an (emerging) circular economy market Given current market sizes, developing countries will mostly procure products designed for circular economy. Why not use their benefits? Developing countries are inherently better in resource efficiency. Leapfrog! Other technological changes are independent from Circular Economy and will not influence the outcome Green design is an essential enabler for circular economy Industry 4.0 will provide extraordinary data about the status of products. This will massively influence repair/reuse/remanufacturing
Take-away messages The world is changing (again) do not miss the opportunity Circular economy Is an opportunity for developing and for middle income countries Brings benefits from the beginning (waste) Is also driven by economic interest, complementing government interventions UNIDO Focusses its cleaner production efforts, e.g. in Eco-Industrial Parks Added recycling industry development Undertakes also already closely related Energy efficiency and renewable energy projects Energy systems optimization Return of nutrients to the field, waste-to-energy in agro-industries, Trade capacity development Will substantially increase innovation and business development efforts incl.: Green design; Green financing around circular economy Undertakes and seeks more partnerships with member states and multilateral institutions Commenced member state dialogue forum Commenced to collect, assess, sort and make available: Experiences and learnings Increasingly policy advice
Thank Circular Economy You
Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production RECP Programme Thousands of enterprises in developing and transition economies benefitted > USD 30 million from multiple donors, > 50 NCPCs, > 70 RECPnet members Scaling up through Eco-Industrial Park initiatives in multiple countries Med TEST savings from 43 sites in 3 countries -17 Million USD / year -9.7 Million cubic meters of water / year -263 Gigawatt hours / year +20 Million USD private sector investment leveraged SWITCH Med > 100 national experts trained RECP Assessments in 100 companies RECP Clubs reaching > 200 SMEs Worked with 27 municipalities Awareness raising on RECP through national Primers and RECP Forums Projects on use of production waste / byproducts, waste-to-energy, 7
Greening Products and Extending Product Lifespan Cradle-to-Cradle approach China Replicable chemicals management methodology based on eco-effectiveness Systematic elimination of hazardous substances from total lifecycles of products and industrial production systems Uptake and replication of eco-effectiveness as a strategy for chemical management in China and elsewhere in the world Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Sector Upgrade Enabling countries to adopt new, climate-friendly alternatives Development and introduction of climate-friendly products Product and production upgraded in > 1000 production sites ~ 340 million tons of CO2-eq reduced (since 1994) Large-scale technician training (> 100,000 since 1995) for high-quality repairs and product lifetime extension Customer awareness, legislative support 8
Recycling Establishment of sustainable business models centered on e-waste dismantling facilities (Ethiopia, Uganda, UR Tanzania) Policy / legislation development, awareness raising, capacity building Design of collection / processing schemes, financing arrangements Connection to national, regional, global downstream markets Impact / Outlook Employment created: Development of refurbishment/processing industry Economically-sound management of problematic waste ICT equipment made affordable to local SMEs/MSMEs Scaling up on regional level in Latin America: USD 9.5 million GEF-funded project, 13 client countries USD 35 million mobilized as co-financing Strengthening regional e-waste management capacities and infrastructure 9
