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The concept of a new economic model is gaining traction amid global efforts to reduce waste, use resources sustainably and put nature first.
But making the transition to a circular bioeconomy will look different depending on where – and who – you are. Ideas under development involve shifting the linear, production-oriented, profit-driven economy to one based on biodegradable, reusable materials and products.
In Finland, for example, businesses applying such approaches are optimizing the use of industrial batteries and improving the charging infrastructure for electric cars. In Kenya, a woman-led enterprise, Eversave Briquettes, is using charcoal dust, a waste product from the charcoal value chain, which is used as a raw material for making charcoal briquettes. Eversave also carbonizes waste from crop and tree residues, repackaging the materials into briquettes for cooking and heating, repurposing what was once thrown away.
The enterprise has grown from simple practices to currently running on middle-scale production machinery. It produces 10 tonnes of charcoal briquettes from which she earns a net monthly income of $700-800. As an orphan and a single mother of one child, with four other dependent relatives who are part of her household, her earnings enable her to provide for them.
She also employs four people full time and through her earnings she has expanded her assets and she now owns a piece of land on which she grows hay for sale.