Insights from the Master’s thesis of Saikiran Medam
Circular economy is an alternative to the linear take-make-waste economy and strives to minimise resource usage, extend the lifetimes of products, and close energy and material loops, thereby promoting sustainable development. It helps to reduce carbon footprints in the foundation industries by following circular business processes such as lean manufacturing, industrial symbiosis, remanufacturing, and recycling.
In order to gain insight into this subject, I performed analysis on a range of factors that act as drivers and barriers for the implementation of a circular economy in foundation industries and identified a priority list of key intervention points.
This was achieved by using a context analysis to identify an initial 91 potential factors which were consolidated via an online survey to 12 factors. These were then further examined and analysed, with input from experts from industry, government and academia.
My study found that the most important factors to support circular economy in UK foundation industries, and therefore the key intervention points that need to be addressed first, were the long-term stability in policy development and energy costs and supply stability. This was then followed by process innovation with intelligent process control, environmental regulations, and sustainable consumption behaviour.
Expert opinions, comments and the respective analysis identified “Long term stability in policy development” as the most important intervention point to be addressed first. They commented that many things run in parallel with the policies in other departments, so it is important for the strategic direction of the policy to be stable and that there is alignment in the development and implementation of the policies. It was therefore found that this factor is linked to almost all other factors and, if it were in place, could act as a major driver for the implementation of a circular economy.
The factor ‘’Energy costs and supply chain stability‘’ is the second factor that ought to be addressed. It forms an important barrier that needs to be worked upon because high energy costs and unstable supply chains lead to a reduction in the attraction of new investments and adaptation of new technologies while driving the fluctuation in consumer and business behaviour. This makes it difficult to calculate the return on investment. Managing the consumption and availability of stable alternative energy supply( biogas, solar, syngas) could help in reducing energy costs.
Further research is currently being conducted within TransFIRe to offer a more detailed insight into the drivers and barriers for enabling a circular economy in the foundation industries. Research outcomes will be used to support industry and government strategy for transforming foundation industries in the UK.