Rethinking Production Processes.
The Idea
Cradle to Cradle® Design defines and develops cyclable products.
In regard to differentiation to conventional recycling the quality level of the raw materials remains throughout multiple product lifecycles and only purely “assessed safe chemicals” are used.
The products are developed according the model to maintain the quality of raw materials over multiple life cycles taking the production processes, the use and the reutilization into account.
This means: No waste, all ingredients are considered as nutrients. The right materials are integrated in defined cycles (metabolism) at the right time and place.
Nature as a model
The 3 Cradle to Cradle® principles:
1. Cycle: Waste = Food
2. Energy: use of renewable resources
3. Diversity
The 2 Systems: biological and technical cycles
BIOLOGICAL CYCLE
Consumer Goods (natural fibers, cosmetics, detergents, etc.) are designed so that they can be used in biological cycles over and over again. They decompose to organic nutrients and promote biological nutrients and systems such as plant growth. The renewable raw materials are in turn the basis for new products.
TECHNICAL CYCLE
Service Products (TV sets, cars, synthetic fibers, etc.), the so-called technical nutrients, are separated to enable the production of new commodities after fulfilling their initial function. The users / consumers purchase only the relevant services, e.g. Television. The materials remain the property of the manufacturer, which retains them through collection and reenters them into the technical cycle.
Topics Discussions
Cradle to Cradle® requires a “Paradigm Change” in relation to today’s predominant “Cradle to Grave” approach. Away from linear thinking towards a thinking in cycles. On numerous committees lively discussions are taking place around the world. Here are some complementary topics about Cradle to Cradle®.
| Cradle to Cradle® | Sustainability | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Perspective | Cradle to Cradle | mainly Cradle to Grave | |
| Orientation | Environmental quality goals to reach | Problems to reduce, avoid, minimize, | |
| Method | Circularity, Cradle to Cradle, Back- and forecasting loop | mainly linearity, mainly Cradle to Grave, forecasting | |
| Indicators | Qualitative prior to quantitative | Quantitative | |
| Environmental Impact | Maximization of the positive effectss for humans, environment and maintaining the quality of raw materials | Things are countable. Goal in reducing negative impacts | |
| Emphasis | Profit |  |
 |
People |  |
 |
Planet |  |
 |
Pleasure |  |
| Cradle to Cradle® | LCA – Life Cycle Assessment | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | Innovation framework, Business concept (Circular Economy), but maintaining the quality of raw materials | Method for measuring the environmental impact of products over the entire lifecycle |
| Philosophy | It is possible to design products with a positive impact on people, the environment and economic profit (the three P’s) | „All“ products pollute, they all require extraction of raw materials and there is always some form of waste left over |
| Approach | Eco-effectiveness: developing a product with positive qualities. The process is part of the ultimate goal. | Eco-efficiency: doing more with less. Improving the ratio between economic value and environmental impact. The aim is to measure the result, not the process |
| Design support | Use the 3 guiding principles to establish a clear direction: waste = food, renewable energy, Respect diversity | Use hot spots to set priorities for improvements. |
| Environmental impact | Maximization of positive effects on people, their environment and the future availability of high quality raw materials. | LCA is used as a measuring instrument in eco-design, whereby hot spots (life cycle elements with the biggest – negative – environmental impact) are identified so that designers can set priorities for improvements. |
| Ecological footprint | Develop a positive beneficial footprint. | Measure the footprint and let designers decide how to handle with it. |
The terms “eco-efficiency” and “eco-effectiveness” are often lumped together. However, a world of difference separates them: Primarily eco-efficiency quantifies, defines problems to be reduced (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions) and eco-effectiveness qualifies in addition (e.g. use of carbon dioxide as nutrient).
Maintaining the quality of materials and to integrate them into product design over multiple live cycles, remains to be an enormous challenge.
The converntional recycling mostly ends in down cycling, whereas inevitable residues remain and decreased quality occurs. Cradle to Cradle® however searches for strategies, how materials can remain in closed loops without loosing the quality of the materials.
Downcycling – Downcycling quality on the timeline
Cradle to Cradle® – Cycling effective resources saving and resources conservation
The circular economy approach analyses the economics of recycling within a value added chain with the result to generate the recovered material as recycling revenues of materials in a mass material stream.
Cradle to Cradle® defines a quality preserving as well as an economical sound cycling revenue in the added value chain. The material reutilization of cyclable Cradle to Cradle® products enables to generate ideally revenues close to the acquisition price of materials. In case additional processing or cleaning costs occur, the material expenses are in any case lower than the market price.
Differentiation: Quality equal Quantity
Cradle to Cradle® Design transmits the principle “Quality equal Quantity” to industrial systems. Materials together with material flows are designed to be beneficial and useful for the regeneration and conservation of biological and technical resources. This approach liberates from the present obligation to diminish, reduce or slow down the need to negative environmental impacts.