Circularity

Circularity

What is the principle of circularity? Circularity is the economic principle of sharing, repairing, refurbishing, recycling, remanufacturing and reusing as much as possible to minimize waste and the extraction & creation of virgin materials

• Part of any material that can be recycled (or re-used), the recyclability of a material

Related topics

• Reusable, upcycle, recyclable or compostable?

Types of circularity

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycling
• Renew.

Recycling

Recycled vs Virgin materials

Recycled materials informs about the part of any material made from recycled materials.

Recyclability

Materials are recyclable if they can be collected, sorted, reprocessed, and ultimately reused in manufacturing or making another item. This is about the part of a material that can be recycled.

Even though many materials can be (partly) recycled in theory, many materials do not get recycled in practice. There are many different reasons why materials do not get recycled. Mostly it is because it is too difficult to recycle or it costs too much money or energy.

Different types of recycling

Upcycling

Reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. Upcycling basically provides things a second existence, it revives the object but with a higher user value than what it had in its previous life. Upcycled objects include everyday items such as furniture, ceramic materials, cans, clothing, and glassware

Recycling Codes

Many materials have a symbol which is called a recycling code. The recycling code is a number that indicates what material the product or part of the product is made from. The materials are sorted on how they should be recycled. Not all materials have a recycling code. For example, rubber does not have a recycling code. However, rubber can be recycled. The recycling codes makes the recycling process easier for recycling facilities. Also when a material does have a recyclingsymbol does not mean that the material can be recycled. Reycling number 1-6 are plastics that can be recycled. Number 7 is for al the other plastics and these plastics do not get recycled, they get burned.

These are all the recycling codes that are being used at the moment:

Plastics

• 1. PET
• 2. HDPE
• 3. PVC
• 4. LDPE
• 5. Polypropylene
• 6. Polystyrene
• 7. All other plastics, including bioplastics

Batteries'

• 8. Lead
• 9. Alkaline
• 10. Nickel-Cadmium batteries
• 11. Nickel metal hydride
• 12. Lithium batteries
• 13. Silver oxide batteries
• 14. Zink-carbon batteries'

Paper

• 20. Corrugated fiberboard
• 21. Non-corrugated fiberboard
• 22. Paper

Metals

• 40. Steel
• 41. Aluminium

Biomatter/Organic Materials

• 50. Wood
• 51. Cork
• 60. Cotton
• 61. Jute

Glass

• 70. Clear Glass
• 71. Green Glass
• 72. Brown Glass
• 73. Dark Sort Glass
• 74. Light Sort Glass
• 75. Light Leaded Glass
• 76. Leaded Glass
• 77. Copper Mixed Glass
• 78. Silver Mixed Glass
• 79. Gold Mixed Glass

Composites 80. Paper and miscellaneous metals 81. Paper + plastic 82. Paper and fibreboard/Aluminium 83. Paper and fibreboard/Tinplate 84. Paper and cardboard/plastic/aluminium 85. Paper and fibreboard/Plastic/Aluminium/Tinplate 87. Biodegradable plastic Laminated 90. Plastics/Aluminium 91. Plastic/Tinplate 92. Plastic/Miscellaneous metals 95. Glass/Plastic 96. Glass/Aluminium 97. Glass/Tinplate 98. Glass/Miscellaneous metals

DataPoints related to recycling/circularity

What part has a recycled origin?

• RecycledContentWeight (UnitDomain: Mass)
• RecycledContentPercentage (Unit: %)

What part can be recycled?

• RecyclableWeight (UnitDomain: Mass)
• RecyclablePercentage (Unit: %)
• RecycableDegratePercentage (Unit: %)

What part is actually recycled? (can only be measured after the life cycle)

• RecycledWeight (UnitDomain: Mass)
• RecycledPercentage (Unit:%) (UnitDomain: Mass)

Related topics

• Waste
  • Landfill (waste dump)
  • Incineration: A waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials
    • Waste-to-energy?
• Re-use
  • Re-wear (fastion/clothing)

Documents & External links

• Amcor on Recycling info on Packaging
• Cradle to Cradle