Closed-Loop
Illustrated by the Chilean platform Al Gramo, closed-loop design extends the life of packaging through repeated reuse cycles, but the book notes that even such systems eventually need to return materials to the environment or recycling, showing the temporal limits of circularity.
Illustrated through Al Gramo, a Chilean platform that partners with major brands to offer products in reusable packaging, collected, cleaned, refilled, and reused: "This system dramatically reduces single-use packaging waste, demonstrating a practical application of circular principles by extending the life of packaging materials through multiple cycles. However, even in such a closed-loop system, the packaging will eventually degrade or be damaged, requiring its eventual return to the environment or recycling streams, thus acknowledging the temporal limitations of circularity and the need for designs that account for eventual material exit from the cycle."
Related in Community
Entries this one is tied to through the book.
Books and references
- The Story of Stuff · both placed under Waste (outcome)
Examples
- Al Gramo · both placed under Waste (outcome)
- The Story of Stuff (Annie Leonard) · both placed under Waste (outcome)
- An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore) · discussed together in section 160
- Brundtland Report ("Our Common Future") · discussed together in section 096
- Cradle to Cradle (book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart) · discussed together in section 010
- Fairphone · discussed together in section 160
- Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) "Seventh Generation" Principle · discussed together in section 096
- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) · discussed together in section 010
- LifeStraw · discussed together in section 160
- MOTH (More-Than-Human Rights) Program (NYU) · discussed together in section 096
- Silent Spring (Rachel Carson) · discussed together in section 160
- Solar Sister · discussed together in section 160
Methods
- Biomimicry · discussed together in section 010
In the Framework
- Outcomes Component
- Environment (Ecological Niche)
- Waste (outcome) · element
In the book
- Chapter 16, section 160 · Environment Dimension
Mentioned in
Methods