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Circular economy is key sustainability strategy to fight against climate change, report finds
While the circular economy is still in its infancy, it is a key sustainability strategy being adopted by world and industry leaders in their fight against climate change.
The world will achieve 10.5 per cent circularity by 2030, as sustainability efforts and incoming legislation start to take effect, a new study finds.
According to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, the circular economy is a key sustainability strategy being adopted by world and industry leaders in their fight against climate change.
Asset tracking
While the circular economy is still in its infancy in terms of data and metrics, there are indicators that it is a growing phenomenon and tech industries, such as IoT for asset tracking, are set to grow rapidly in the next five years, ABI reports.
“The circular economy is an often-misunderstood concept that goes much further than waste management and can become a blueprint for cities. It is a movement away from our take-make-waste economy to one which designs out waste, keeps products and materials in use, and regenerates natural systems,” said Lindsey Vest, smart cities and smart spaces research analyst at ABI Research.
“Circularity concepts such as remanufacturing, reuse, and the sharing economy will be critically enabled by smart cities technologies such as IoT, AI and digital twins.”
There are many different current and upcoming governmental actions that are expected to increase circularity across the world. In particular, the study notes, the EU has released the Circular Economy Action Plan as a part of the Green Deal. China also recently released its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for Circular Economy Development, which will accelerate its adoption.
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This is in addition to organisations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, dedicated to educating and connecting companies and governments around the world on the circular economy and C40 cities, whose members make up 25 per cent of global GDP and are continuing to champion the circular economy and encouraging its growth, the report notes.
Furthermore, many different tech companies are engaging in circular concepts such a Vodafone’s NB-IoT platform for monitoring water systems to prevent waste and Cityzenith’s Digital Twins platform which helps companies design out waste in their projects.
“These technologies need to adopt circular practices from cradle-to-grave to make full use of the opportunities brought by the circular economy”
With around 70 per cent of people expected to be living in cities by the year 2050, it will be essential that the infrastructure is in place to support this population volume and density. ABI said smart cities and their technologies will be essential in facilitating the circular economy and many smart city technologies already support a circular economy such as the sharing economy, smart lighting, and green infrastructure.
“However, these technologies need to adopt circular practices from cradle-to-grave to make full use of the opportunities brought by the circular economy,” added Vest.
The findings are from ABI Research’s Circular Cities Strategies and Technologies application analysis report. This report is part of the company’s Smart Cities and Smart Spaces research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights.
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How can IoT enhance asset tracking in circular economy initiatives?What role do smart cities technologies play in promoting circularity?How does the EU Circular Economy Action Plan impact global sustainability?In what ways can digital twins reduce waste in urban development?How will AI support remanufacturing and reuse in circular economies?ABI ResearchAI and Machine Learningcircular economyClimate change/ResilienceConnectivity & DataCOP26DataEnergy & Environmentwaste
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