Did you know, the average European uses 16 tonnes of resources a year, and only 40% of that is recycled? This is clearly not sustainable, so the idea of the Circular Economy was born to help us to move away from this situation. Dr Hugh Falkner looks into how the repair industry is central to the Circular Economy.
According to a 2016 report by McKinsey, the average European uses 16 tonnes of resources a year, of which only 40% is recycled. This is clearly not sustainable, so the idea of the Circular Economy was born to develop new business models that will help us to move away from this situation. Some motor manufacturers are already looking ahead to consider what this might mean for their businesses, and CEN/ CENELEC is already engaged in early standardisation activity.
This standardisation work (Figure 2 below), will be instrumental in setting the ‘ground rules’ for further work and possibly regulations on the Circular Economy, and so early involvement in their evolution will be important to make sure that the views of the repair industry are made known alongside those of other stakeholders.
UK activity in the Circular Economy
Given the importance of the Circular Economy, there are many organisations active in the area, including:
Positioning the sector as a leader in the Circular Economy
From this initial look at the Circular Economy, the motor repair sector in the broadest sense, which includes pumps, fans, and compressors, emerges as being in many ways ‘ahead of the pack’ in demonstrating how the Circular Economy works in practice. Going forward there are three challenges that should be embraced to make the most of this pole position:
This could just be a fascinating time for the repair industry to raise its profile, and show leadership in helping the economy to meet one of the biggest challenges facing our futures.
Write a comment
No comments