The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity, lost waste and pollution.
What is the circular economy?
When we talk about a circular economy, we are talking about an innovative model for rethinking our approach to products and services so that they are regenerative by design.
It’s about better use of resources, closed looped resource flows and preventing waste and pollution through better design. The aim is to ensure products are used efficiently and kept in circulation as long as possible.
Learn more about the circular economy and the role plastics pipe systems play
How do plastic pipe systems play their role in a circular economy?
Recycling and the circular economy – what’s the difference?
How plastic pipe systems play their role in the circular economy?
Not all plastics are the same. Too often, plastic pipe systems are mistakenly put in the same category as short-lived, single-use plastics.
Plastic pipes are engineered products. They harness the strength and longevity properties of plastics, using them for the good of the environment. Unlike single-use plastics, through clever design plastic pipes deliver vital services reliably, day after day, for at least 100 years. At the end of their useful lives, they can be recycled back into new pipes, closing the loop, and providing multiple lifecycles over many generations. This creates a true circular economy.
Design & make
When we look to design and make a product, we need to cover the efficient use of resources, prevent waste and pollution through better design and manufacturing processes. With the overall aim of keeping products in circulation as long as possible.
Plastic pipe systems are made from materials engineered to be robust and reliable having a long life in excess of 100 years.
The manufacturing process of plastic pipes is relatively simple – with the main inputs of plastic pellets or powder and electricity. Production equipment is electrically powered, with relatively low temperatures required to melt the plastic. This results in a very clean and enclosed process with low emissions and lower embodied energy than alternative materials. Utilising renewable energy opportunities providing a pathway to net zero.
Through manufacturing, scrap or re-work material generated is also re-used, designing out waste.
Suitable post-consumer and pre-consumer materials can also be used to manufacture non-pressure plastic pipes. Due to their long life, recovery volume is low (the vast majority of plastic pipes are still in their first life cycle!) however the plastic pipe industry has always been committed to diverting resources from landfill. There is no capacity to increase the use of recycled material when suitable volumes become available.
It’s critical for pipes manufactured with recycled content to conform to the relevant Australian Product Standards, just as pipes manufactured from virgin materials do. Due to the important role plastic pipes play they must be fit for purpose, regardless of their composition for long life.
USE
While in their 100 years + service life, plastic pipes when installed correctly do not require any maintenance or repair for decades, unlike other materials. They withstand the forces they are subjected to, they do not corrode, resist chemical attack, they resist abrasion and maintain a smooth bore for easy fluid flow and better hydraulics. They are also designed not to leach secondary material into the fluid flow which is important for drink water applications. Plastic pipes are safe for the people and the planet.
There have been many studies conducted in Australia and around the world showing long term performance of plastic pipes in operation, showing no chemical degradation and the integrity of the pipe still intact.
Plastic pipes offer clear advantages in terms of chemical resistance over other pipe options. Theya re not affected by soil environments that are highly corrosive to metal and concrete. They are not affected by compounds that form in wastewater such as acids that rapidly degrade iron and cement lines pipes, making them the ideal choice for long term infrastructure. They also have the lowest overall failure rates in water infrastructure compared to cast iron, ductile iron, steel, and asbestos cement.
Re-use & repair
Re-use and repair before recover. Let’s aim to extend the lifespan of a product to reduce waste and resource consumption.
Plastic pipes are designed for long life and there are multiple repair options readily available if required to extend the lifespan of the critical infrastructure.
At the end of their long service life, plastic pipe systems in buried infrastructure applications can be re-used without removing them from under the ground. These services can become a host for a new plastic pipe. Although plastic pipes are recyclable but reusing the pipe as a hots pipe significantly reduces the use of energy and resources. It also reduces the environmental impact of digging up a pipeline after 100 years. There are some applications where suitable recycling streams are available such as pipe off-cuts or construction and demolition, but it’s not for all of them.
Recover & recycle
Returning products at the end of their useful life back into new products, reducing the amount of new material needed and diverting valuable resources from landfill.
Plastic pipe systems are recyclable. The industry has and continues to take practical meaningful steps to divert valuable resources from landfill back into the manufacture of long-life recycled pipe products that meet the relevant Australian and international standards. This is achieved through recycling programs, working closely with key stakeholders, and forming direct agreements for the recovery of off-cuts and product at the end of its in-use phase.
Three key principles to a circular economy
Design out waste & pollution
The first principle of the circular economy is to eliminate waste and pollution. The problem (and the solution) starts with design. In a circular economy, a specification for any design is that the materials re-enter the economy at then end of their use. By doing this, we take the linear take – make-waste system and make it circular.
Many products could be circulated by being maintained, shared, reused, repaired, refurbished, remanufactured and at the last resort, recycled.
With a focus on design, we can eliminate the concept of waste. By adopting this first principle of the circular economy, with an emphasis on upstream design we can begin to close the materials loop and stop waste before its even created.
Circulate products & materials
A circular economy favours activities that preserve value in the form of energy, labour and materials. This means designing for durability, re-use, remanufacturing, and recycling to keep products, components and materials circulating in the economy at their highest value.
This way, nothing becomes waste and the intrinsic value of products and materials are maintained. Design is key to success.
In order for products to successfully be circulated it is essential they have been designed with their eventual circulation in mind.
Regenerate nature
A circular economy not only protects but actively improves the environment. By moving from a take-make-waste linear economy to a circular economy, we support natural processes and leave more room for nature to thrive.
Transitioning to renewable energy, producing infrastructure designed for reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycled will assist in regenerating nature.
By adopting the third principle of the circular economy the focus no longer will be simply on doing less harm to the environment, but on how we can actively improve it.
The more we do, the greater the benefits.
Recycling and the circular economy – what’s the difference?
Recycling begins at the end – the ‘get rid’ stage of a product’s lifecycle. The circular economy goes right back to the beginning to prevent waste and pollution from being created in the first place. In the face of our current environmental challenges, recycling won’t be enough to overcome the sheer amount of waste we produce.
In a properly built circular economy, one should rather focus on avoiding the recycling stage at all costs. A circular economy’s ‘upstream’ solutions address potential problems right at the source. While recycling is undoubtedly a necessary designed component, we need to ensure that products and materials are designed, from the outset, to be reused, repaired, and remanufactured. It’s the consequences of decisions made at the design stage that determine around 80% of environmental impacts.
Transitioning from a linear to a circular economy
In a circular economy, waste does not exist, and products and raw materials are designed to be in use and then re-used as long and intensive as possible over and over again. There is no longer the line of produce, consume and then throw it away.
Linear economy
Circular economy
A circular economy aims to better use resources, close loops of resource flows by recovering as much as possible and prevent waste and pollution through better design. The emphasis is placed on shifting the way we extract, make, use and repurpose material in our products to ensure they are used efficiently and kept in circulation as long as possible.