From a throw-away society to a circular economy - Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

Corinna Caspari from RELEVO showed what new thinking can look like in a short pitch at the start of the event. The startup from Munich offers a smart reusable solution for tableware. Via an app, registered users can get their food of partner restaurants in reusable dishes and also return them to other partner restaurants. "This is something completely different from eating or drinking out of Styrofoam or paper cups, and the return rate of 99.5 percent is better than with deposit systems," Caspari was pleased to say. The ecological reusable sets can be used more than 1,000 times.

Blogger Witt, who also runs an "unpackaged shop" in Cologne, knows from experience that it is not easy for consumers to avoid waste. For example, is food too often sold shrink-wrapped in plastic. "For something to change, disposable packaging must become more expensive," she demanded.  The structure already has to be changed in the supply system.

The company Grover takes a different approach. Users can rent consumer electronics such as smartphones, laptops or game consoles for a certain period of time on a subscription model. "After returning the products, they are cleaned and repaired if necessary and are then available to the next customer," says Sophie Zielcke, Head of Sustainability at Grover. This makes it possible to get the maximum benefit from each product and reduce electronic-waste. However, she noted that electronic products sometimes have a planned expiry date and repairs are difficult.

"Ecodesign is the key concept for reducing the absolute consumption of resources," Janine Korduan from friends of the earth, Germany (BUND) is convinced. After all, she said, even a consistent recycling economy would not be able to solve all the problems. "We have good recycling structures for glass and metals, but many plastics are composite materials." These cannot be recycled, so they are either incinerated or end up as lower-quality products in the construction industry. 

Another disadvantage is the high energy consumption involved in recycling used glass. It would be better if there were binding reusable quotas that were actually adhered to. And we should not forget what our consumption of resources is doing to the raw material countries of the global south. "In mining, working conditions are often deplorable and there are human rights violations. We could avoid this if we used fewer resources."

Zollner is critical of the fact that companies have so far not taken external effects into account such as environmental impact costs. To become in order for business administration part of the solution, more interdisciplinary teaching should be offered for students from different faculties. This, he says, could sharpen students' ability to look beyond their own horizons. "Social scientists ask different questions than business economists, and quickly something new emerges," he is convinced. 

"We already know many solutions," Witt said. For example, instead of the convenient kitchen roll, simply use a cloth. In the past, we used to get by with far fewer things "and we were also satisfied," she added. "Many solutions are on the table, but the problem is implementation," said BUND expert Korduan. This is a matter for each and every one of us. She also referred to the strong lobby of large companies and the traditional economy, which prevents changes.

"I hope that the new government will make the necessary decisions", Zollner demanded. Because the fact that we will not be able to continue living the next 50 years as we have has not yet reached society. Or, as Korduan put it: "Germany should no longer be the European champion in packaging waste, but should set its sights on the title of savings champion." This role model function could radiate to other countries. If Germany, as a successful industrial nation, managed to put itself at the forefront of a global movement for a fair, resource-conscious economy that respects the limits of the earth, much would be gained.