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Green Book: From degenerative to regenerative design

News • 13/12/2022 •
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In this second article of Green Book, you will discover what a design should contain to shift from degenerative to regenerative, creating significant value.

According to World Economic Forum's recent 2022 data, our growing global economy reached an unprecedented $94tn in 2021. At this growth pace, we would require the ecological resources of 2.3 planets by 2050. However, WEF informs that by shifting from linear "take, make, waste" to a circular "reduce, reuse, recycle" economic model, we can decouple our world's growth from consuming the Earth's resources. This solution is within our reach and presents a significant opportunity. A few years back, William McDonough, one of the leading figures designing and defining the circular economy for the past 30 years, wrote a beautiful essay, "The Pollution Century," in "Imaginal Cells: Visions of Transformation" by Reboot the Future. He noted that the economic benefits of the circular economy are substantial, as, in 2013, McKinsey & Company's study estimated that the transition to the circular economy in the European Union alone would provide $1tn in annual savings by 2025 and create 100'000 jobs within five years.

His reflections offer fundamental notions on the essence of the circular economy - it not only reduces waste but also eliminates the very concept of waste and establishes cycles of endless resourcefulness. He explains that, for instance, with circular strategies, intelligent companies can put the 're' back into their resources in manufacturing. It sustains their longterm growth, while the products of circular economies fulfill their purpose by providing access to a service. For instance, rather than buying a car, people may opt to purchase access to mobility. This way, companies can save substantially, as we will discover later in the text.

Last time we addressed the circular economy's three pillars – waste and pollution elimination, circulation of products and materials, and regeneration of nature, we introduced the idea of a need to be more imaginative to transition from a linear to a circular economy. Now let's focus on what this concretely means in more practical terms. How can we move from degenerative to regenerative design? In his essay, William McDonough explains that to shift to the ecological century, we need good design, which poses design questions inspiring creativity and generating tremendous value. How can this project make a positive difference in the life of the local community? How might it create habitats, nourish the landscape, and restore biodiversity? How much shared prosperity can we grow? It is our way forward.

Indeed, in 2002 in his "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things," William McDonough and the German chemist Michael Braungart first posited the valuebased design framework. There are five principles of becoming beneficial by design, as described by the "Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program." These are:

  • material health (products that can safely return to nature or industry in biological or technical cycles)
  • material re-utilization
  • clean energy
  • water stewardship and
  • social fairness

Leading large companies and thousands of startups from nearly every sector of the global economy are working with these ideas daily.

In his essay, McDonough gives a great example of this. Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet manufacturer, makes its product with healthy and safe materials retaining their value for infinite cycles. It guarantees the recovery of its "Cradle to Cradle Certified" carpet tiles, printing 1-800 number on the back of each tile to facilitate its return. In this way, Shaw gladly answers every call and uses recovered tiles as raw materials for the next generation of carpets, saving $4m annually on water and energy costs. It is worthwhile returning to basics, recalling that each business model embodies four interdependent components (Christensen, Bartman, & van Bever, 2016). First, there is a customer's value proposition (job it does) and profit formula characterizing business priorities (what it does and why). Resources and processes define its capabilities (how it does things). We shall consider what innovative, good designs we can apply to our current and future business model elements to reach regeneration. Hence, we will explore business model innovation in further detail next time.

Article contributed by:

Ajlin Dizdarevic (www.ajlindizdarevic.com) - She is a management consultant, researcher, and entrepreneur, working with circular economy projects.