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Circular design and economy will be next big eco trend

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 April 2021
Published date01 April 2021
On average, 1 in 5 people would simply throw their reusable cup in any bin once they were done with it, rather than recycle, creating a long-term issue for landfill.

The findings come from new research conducted by Circular&Co, which also discovered that on average, Brits have 3 reusable coffee cups at home, which they never use. Of those of us that own a reusable cup, 3 in 4 still confess to using disposable plastic or single-use cups on a frequent basis and make little effort to change our ways due to laziness or ease. All of which create a plastic nightmare for landfill, by well-meaning public who think they are doing ‘their bit’.

According to the Environmental Audit Committee, approximately 2.5 billion coffee cups are discarded after one use each year in the UK -enough to stretch around the world roughly five and a half times. However, less than 1 in 400 are recycled.

A British inventor is leading the way in tackling the issue with circular thinking. Circular design involves extending the life of our resources so we can constantly reuse and stop waste from harming our oceans and polluting the planet, creating a circular loop. This means material is constantly repurposed, rather than ending up in landfill.

The British Coffee Association stated that in the UK alone we drink 95 million cups of coffee a day. Without using sustainably sourced materials, those cups go directly into landfills or oceans. With circular design, this creates the opportunity to repurpose the used cups into new, reusable ones.

Expert in the field Dan Dicker is a former Dyson product designer turned inventor and circular design guru. Dicker works with government bodies on policy change, driving regulations and support for those operating in circular design. Japan, Netherlands, and Wales are world-leading in circular reform, with many calling on the UK government to...

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