The circular economy is all the rage, but what is it exactly? And how do you go ‘circular’? Postdoc researcher Evelien de Olde of the Animal Production Systems chair group wondered about this and decided to create a test based on the existing literature. See how you score and find out how circular you are.
d. Offal and other parts such as the tail and trotters
R6
1
a. Give to a housemate or save for another time
R3
1
b. Feed to chickens, rabbits or pigs
R7
1
c. I never have leftovers
R2
2
d. Throw away (immediately or after keeping them for a month in the fridge)
R9
0
a. No problem, it’ll last a few more years
R2
2
b. Some friend or relative will be happy to have it
R3
1
c. Take it to the second-hand shop
R3
1
d. On the New Year’s Eve bonfire
R9
0
e. Have it upholstered again
R5
1
a. Put on a thick jumper
R0
2
b. Turn the thermostat up one degree and put on a jumper
R2
2
c. Turn the thermostat up to 21
C
-1
d. Wash up, clear up and hoover to get warm
R1
2
a. Get one of those little plastic LED lights from the supermarket
C
-1
b. Fit a new wire or bulb in your current bike light
R4
1
c. There’s an old bike in the shed with lights that work; you decide to use them
R6
1
d. Go without lights
R0
2
a. My own mug
R3
1
b. Plastic or paper cups because they get recycled anyway
R8
0
c. I don’t drink coffee
R0
2
a. No egg at all
R0
2
b. A Kipster/Oerei egg (eggs from chickens fed with waste products or insects)
R7
1
c. An egg from my own chickens (which get fed leftovers sometimes)
R7
1
d. Just the usual supermarket ones
C
-1
a. Great, I wanted the new iPhone X anyway
C
-1
b. OK, I’ll buy a second-hand one
R5
1
c. I’ll get the screen replaced
R4
1
d. I’ve still got an old, indestructible Nokia somewhere
R2
2
a. Resource? Never heard of it! (Eh…)
R0
2
b. I share it with my housemates or colleagues
R1
2
c. I read it online
R2
2
d. I use it as cat litter, decoration, toilet paper…
R7
1
e. On the bonfire!
R9
0
f. I put it out for recycling
R8
0
Your score
Circular economy ladder
The points in this test are based on the ten levels of circularity that are identified in the literature. We added level C — consuming — ourselves. At this level, there is no circularity at all and the use of raw materials increases.
We admit that this point scoring system results in some strange ‘advice’. In question 6, for example, cycling without a light gives the most points because Refuse (R0) is at the top of the ladder, whereas it’s obviously a bad idea. For food too, not consuming at all is not an option. Those are cases where you are better off a little further down the circularity ladder.
Sources
Circular economy: what we want to know and can measure. Framework and baseline assessment for monitoring the progress of the circular economy in the Netherlands. Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), 2018
Circulaire economie – van wens naar uitvoering [Circular economy — from wish to implementation]. Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (RLI), 2015
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