Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF)
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation promotes a cradle-to-cradle circular economy built on eliminating waste, circulating materials, and regenerating nature, though the SDF is critical of its market-growth framing of circularity.
The alternative, as promoted by organizations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), is to design out waste from the very beginning. This means abandoning the linear model in favor of a "cradle-to-cradle" approach, where materials are conceived as either technical or biological nutrients that circulate at their highest value. The EMF's vision of a circular economy is based on three principles: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature. While the SDF supports this goal, it maintains a critical distance from what it perceives as the EMF's predominant focus on a market-based circular economy. The EMF often frames circularity as a new engine for economic growth and job creation, which, from the SDF's perspective, risks perpetuating cycles of consumption and the creation of "satisfiers" that may not align with fundamental human needs.
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Related in Community
Entries this one is tied to through the book.
Examples
- Al Gramo · both placed under The Circular Economy and recycling, critically
- Cradle to Cradle (book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart) · discussed together in section 151
- Design for the Real World (book by Victor Papanek) · discussed together in section 151
- Francis Kéré — schools and community centers, Burkina Faso · discussed together in section 151
- Kamikatsu Zero Waste · discussed together in section 151
- The Tool Library, Columbus, Ohio · discussed together in section 151
Books and references
- Cradle to Cradle (book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart) · discussed together in section 151
- Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change · discussed together in section 151
- The Story of Stuff · discussed together in section 151
Methods
- Cradle to Cradle (book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart) · discussed together in section 151
In the framework
- Waste (technological) · element
- Technological Component
- Environment (Ecological Niche)
- Fundamental Human Needs · concept
In the book
- Chapter 15, section 151 · Environment Dimension
Mentioned in
Examples