Beyond waste: Unlocking circular innovation in materials and chemicals

According to the 2023 Circularity Gap Report opens in new tab/window, only 7.2% of the global economy is circular. The same report shows that transitioning to a more circular economy could reduce raw material use by one-third opens in new tab/window, driving us closer to improved sustainability and international climate goals.

The circular economy emphasizes resource efficiency through product design that minimizes waste and extends the lifecycle of materials. The potential impact is immense in the chemicals and materials industry, which has traditionally relied on linear models of extraction, production and disposal.

“Despite how important it is, very few have a solid strategy for implementing circularity across their organizations,” says Dr Chris Cogswell, Global Engineering Consultant at Elsevier.

The latest webinar in our Sustainability in Action: Real-world Examples for a Greener Future series — Reimagining Sustainability: Exploring the Circular Economy in Chemicals and Materials opens in new tab/window — brings together industry leaders from corporate, academic and government sectors to discuss sustainability and the circular economy in chemicals and materials. Presenters are:

• Dr Nicholas Rorrer opens in new tab/window, Senior Researcher and Group Manager for Polymer Science and Engineering at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory opens in new tab/window

• Antonella Di Meo opens in new tab/window, Sustainability Program Manager on the Product & Assets Management Team of the Syensqo Specialty Polymers business opens in new tab/window

• Dr Siming You opens in new tab/window, Senior Lecturer in the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow opens in new tab/window.

• Dr Chris Cogswell opens in new tab/window, Global Engineering Consultant at Elsevier, as moderator

They will explore challenges, innovations and economic impacts of closing the loop in the chemicals and materials sector.

Barriers and challenges to implementing circular solutions

While circularity is increasingly acknowledged as a sustainable way forward, organizations often face practical challenges that impede the adoption of circular solutions. Our webinar participants were asked: What do you see as the biggest barrier when adopting sustainability practices in your organization? The results highlighted the multifaceted nature of these challenges:

• Cost: 44%

• Lack of technology: 23%

• Regulatory challenges: 18%

• Cultural resistance: 15%

The most prominent challenge was financial viability. Circular business models can require substantial up-front investment, making them prohibitive for many organizations. A 2019 study by Vermunt et al  opens in new tab/windowin the Journal of Cleaner Production shows a lack of financial resources and the unclear long-term economic case for circular models are among the most cited barriers.

The conversation among our presenters circles back to the same root issue regarding financial challenges — the need for scalability and a clear direction. “There are incredible potential benefits from circularity, but you need to acknowledge that you need scale,” says Di Meo. “And today, very few technologies are at the scale where they become affordable.”

“It’s important for corporations to decide the right sustainability direction,” Dr You adds. “Cost is a key issue affecting the development or implementation of new technologies. Still, the earlier a company gets involved in sustainability development with the right strategy, the better advantage they will have in the long-term in the market.”

Beyond financial concerns, organizations face a range of barriers that complicate the implementation of circular practices. Cultural resistance within organizations plays a role, manifesting as hesitation from stakeholders or employees to adopt new practices. Regulatory barriers can also pose complications, making it difficult to fully implement circular solutions.

Time is another concern, Dr Rorrer points out: “There are solutions that we need today, and there are solutions that we need in five to 10 years. And how do we — as a research community, as a scientific community, as an industrial community — address these problems simultaneously?”

Despite these barriers, “good sustainability is good economics,” Dr Cogswell says. “It's taking a product that you consider a waste material, reusing it for something else, and selling it.”

Measuring the economic impact of sustainability

Quantifying the economic impact of sustainability efforts can be complex because the process involves difficult-to-measure concepts like reduced emissions, resource conservation, and lifecycle benefits. Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) is one tool used to evaluate the environmental impact of products and services — but it’s far from perfect.

“I believe LCA for a single industry or company is good if they have sufficient data and are willing to gather more,” Dr You explains. “But in the long-term, we need a strategy in place for sharing data among different entities, institutions and organizations so that the data sharing doesn’t just benefit a small community but a larger population.”

Another notable tool is Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET opens in new tab/window), developed by Argonne National Laboratory. GREET assesses various factors to help organizations evaluate the economic and environmental trade-offs of different sustainability approaches.

Despite the tools and technology available, the challenge of measuring sustainability remains significant. “One of the biggest challenges is data,” says Dr You. “How do you get the most reliable and comparable data to carry out standardized protocols for lifecycle assessment so that you can make the right decision in the end?”

Standardizing measurements across industries isn’t the current reality. Different sectors have unique processes and materials, making it hard to apply a one-size-fits-all framework for lifecycle assessments. The success of these measurements also hinges on data sharing across the supply chain — something many organizations are reluctant to do due to confidentiality concerns, competitive advantage or inconsistent data reporting practices.

“These numbers are becoming competitive,” De Meo adds. “LCA was not born as a tool for marketing, but this is what it’s becoming. So the question of the integrity of the data and the assumptions behind these studies is extremely relevant.” Her organization, Syensqo opens in new tab/window, began measuring sustainability impact in 2010, placing a greater focus on LCA. “We want to promote and implement change versus just putting a Band-Aid on the situation, which I think is the right approach, but it’s not the easiest.”

The clear consensus among presenters was the need for data transparency and standardization to increase the efficiency and reliability of LCA, and technology might be the answer.

As Dr You says: “I believe that with AI, machine learning and data science, there are potential ways for us to analyze the data, or even create the data, for improving LCA.”

The social dimension of circular economies

While environmental impacts often take center stage in discussions about circular economies, the social and human aspects are equally important.

“We have to make sure that as we develop green technologies, we’re not burden-shifting onto disadvantaged communities to mine more toxic metals or create worse working conditions,” says Dr Rorrer.

An example of this burden-shifting can be seen with first-generation biofuels opens in new tab/window, which were initially considered a climate-neutral alternative. However, LCAs later revealed that the emissions generated during production, transportation and material extraction ended up being higher than the reduction in vehicle emissions.

Organizations like Syensqo take a more holistic approach, incorporating each aspect of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into product development. “When we implement new materials in our portfolio, we look at the ESG implications because of what we want to be as a corporation and because we need to listen to our customers and their concerns,” Di Meo explains.

Corporations can no longer afford to focus solely on carbon footprints and resource conservation; they must also consider the human rights, equity and social implications of their sustainability efforts.

Circularity in action: Success stories

With so many challenges and barriers to circularity, can it be done successfully?

“To me, it’s finding the right application,” Dr Rorrer says. “It’s not finding circularity for the point of circularity, but it’s about finding that right space.”

“It’s where you can meet a need using a more sustainable solution — that’s where circularity is going to work,” Di Meo adds. “We don’t need solutions looking for problems; we need to address existing problems with new sustainable solutions.”

One example of finding the right space to create circular solutions is plastic decking. “A lot of plastic decking comes from the grocery bags we get from the stores,” Dr Rorrer says. “So it’s a simple solution where they figured out the supply chain, taken something that has a short lifespan and upcycled it.”

One company, Trex Decking opens in new tab/window, based in Virginia, creates composite decking and outdoor products using recycled plastic film sourced from everyday waste like shopping and dry cleaning bags. According to Trex, a 20’x20’ deck contains more than 1,500 pounds of recycled and reclaimed wood and plastic film. As a result, Trex has recycled over 5.5 billion pounds of plastic film throughout its operational history.

Another example, introduced by Dr Cogswell, is Las Vegas’ buffets partnerships with local farmers. With 92 billion pounds opens in new tab/window of food going to waste in America each year, this ingenious solution turns food scraps from local casinos and restaurants into agricultural feed. Las Vegas Livestock opens in new tab/window, formerly RC Farms, has been running the recycling program since 1963 and processes 30 tons of food scraps opens in new tab/window every day.