Butterfly Effect

Have you heard the phrase “Reduse, Reuse, Recycle”? It’s a great start, but there’s a whole world of possibilities beyond that! Introducing the Circular Economy Butterfly Diagram. Think of it as the advanced level of keeping things useful and preventing waste.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT……..

The butterfly diagram has two sides, different R-ladders to treat the two different types of materials in the world; technical and biological.

Technical Cycle

Technical Materials are for products that are used rather than consumed (machinery, tools, phones etc.) the goal is to keep these items and their materials in circulation as long as possible.

Share | Renting instead of buying, or use appliance libraries.

Maintain | Get it fixed when it breaks.

Refurbish | Companies restore used phones for resale.

Remanufacture | Companies take back products and make new phones out of old ones.

Recycle | The option of last resort - recovering the individual materials within the phone.

Biological Cycle

For materials that can safely biodegrade, like food scraps or natural fibers. The focus is on returning nutrients to the earth and regenerating nature.

Eat it | Enjoy the nutrients, reduce food waste.

Natural Regeneration | Ensure to put nutrients back into our soil to restore depleted ecosystems through composting and anaerobic digestion.

Animal Feed | Leftovers can still have value as feed for livestock and pets.

New Products | Apple cores could become new materials, such as textiles.

Biofuels | Option of last resort, burning the apple as fuel, wasting its nutritional value.

The Butterfly Diagram shows that the best solutions are often the ones that keep products and materials in use as long as possible. Recycling and waste to energy can be useful, but they are options of last resort. By designing products and systems with circularity in mind, we can save resources, create jobs and protect our planet.

Eat it

Enjoy the nutrients, reduce food waste.

Natural Regeneration

Ensure to put nutrients back into our soil to restore depleted ecosystems through composting and anaerobic digestion.

Animal Feed

Leftovers can still have value as feed for livestock and pets.

New Products

Apple cores could become new materials, such as textiles.

Biofuels

Option of last resort, burning the apple as fuel, wasting its nutritional value.