Operations of A Circular Economy

As people interact with the natural resources within the system during production and consumption they should promote the development of the ecology for sustainability. In a circular economy, the energy used is usually from renewable sources, the system is designed in a way that energy efficiency will be achieved (Perey et al, 2018, 642). Materials and technologies that will enhance energy recovery are used within the system, the energy is utilized in an economic way and preserved at times when the amount of energy available for use is low. In the circular economy, the preservation and support of the ecology is the main objective. In this cases, habitats such as forests that support wildlife and oceans that support aquatic plants are well preserved and rarely encroached.

An example is the Vodafone Company who have recently come with a service where a potential customer can lease a phone for a period of one year and then take it back to the company to acquire a newer version. This helps the company to collect back the older products for later use and also helps to create good customer relations (Ghisellini, Cialani, and Ulgiati, 2016, 11). The activity of next life sale is another driver of a circular economy where companies usually recover their already used products and recondition them into new products which can then be sold in the market. Product transformation activity is another key driver of the circular economy, where because not all products can be reconditioned completely, the already used ones can be acquired and extracted the high-quality materials that they contain and they are used to make another product (Lieder, and Rashid, 2016, 37).

They can also be combined with other materials to make another product. If materials are not recycled such as in the linear economy the raw materials will get depleted and countries will have to rely on others for the supply of such materials (Goel, 2018). It also helps to reduce pressure on the environment, if waste materials are not recycled them are dumped in heaps within the environment and since most of them are non-biodegradable they end up being pollution to the environment (Loach, Rowley, and Griffiths, 2017, 188). A circular economy also helps to increase innovations, as companies and organization plan on how to recycle raw materials they are forced to become highly innovative and creative so as to come up with ways on how to do it (Loach, Rowley, and Griffiths, 2017,190).

Job opportunities are also created in the process of innovation reducing unemployment levels within the economy. Companies also come up with more durable and high-quality products through innovation and this is a great benefit to the buyers because they will use the products for a longer duration and hence they are saved the cost of having to purchase a product every now and then. If they are depleted it means that the animals that depended on them may not get shelter and also the rivers that originated from those areas may end up dry and the people who depended on those rivers will lack water (Holden, 2017, 46). In terms of food wastage in a linear economy, any food leftovers are thrown away without being put in an alternative usage, this is disadvantageous because the cost incurred in producing that food is not recovered and also it is not ethical to waste food which could be used to feed those in need.

Application of circular economy in Coastal Craft Beer Company Argent, 2017, p 1 indicates that Coastal Craft Beer Company was found by Tristram Stuart who had begun a charity organization that was used to collect back waste on bread and to donate to the needy but yet that was not a solution to reducing bread food waste and hence he began a company known as Toast Ale. The company main subsidiary is in the U. S however it has formed licensed connections in the world. The team in the company used this rejected parts of the bread from a bakery in London to do a test to determine whether it could be used to make another product (Stahel, 2016, 435). The test leads to the discovery of the Taste Ale beer and in 2016 January the company and the product were officially launched in London (Epstein, and Yuthas, 2017, 4).

Business Model The company made ongoing relationships with a company that manufacturers sandwiches and the manufacturer usually provides Toast Ale Company with all the bread slices that are aimed to be discarded, Toast Ale then uses the slices to produce the beer (Preston, 2016, 35). The company obtained the support of many bakers who approach them every now and then so that Toast Ale can help them to redistribute the bread leftovers instead of wasting it (Mentink, 2014, 356). Baking is an interesting task and hence most of the bakers would not be happy to see their products getting wasted and therefore collaborating with Toast Ale in the supply chain is a better way of disposing of the rejected parts of the loaf. Companies should ensure that they operate in more sustainable ways through the circular economy where the resources input into the system are reduced and the amount of waste and other emissions leaking from the system also reduced.

This will help to prevent the low amount of resources available in the economy from getting depleted and will also protect the environment from getting polluted. Companies close the loops by having the products recycled, improving efficiency to ensure that there is a very low amount of resources if any and by extending a product lifecycle. For example companies can follow a strategy that has greatly been embraced by some few companies where they are lending/ leasing products instead of selling them permanently. This way the company will have reduced the need to produce more products to serve the needs of the different people in the economy. 1 Bocken, N. M. , de Pauw, I. , Bakker, C. and van der Grinten, B. L.