The Fourth Industrial Revolution & the journey to zero waste

The Fourth Industrial Revolution gained a lot of media coverage earlier this year after the World Economic Forum in January 2016. More recently, when doing some background reading, I was struck by the similarities it has with the resource management industry.

The evolution of revolution

The first three industrial revolutions were very specific.

  • The invention of steam power mechanised production.
  • Electric power introduced mass production.
  • Electronics and information technology have automated production.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is different. It blurs the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres, as increasingly sophisticated technology changes the way we live and disrupts the way we do business.

The pace of current technological breakthroughs is unprecedented throughout human history. Billions of people are connected by mobile devices that give them access to the sum of human knowledge – and the devices they use are getting more powerful all the time.

Voice-controlled personal assistant like Apple’s Siri, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and Fitbits – they’re everyday things that have the potential to lead to so much more. 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology and robotics are all taking huge leaps forward into an interconnected future that blends the ‘real’ world with its digital systems.

It’s changed the way we see and speak to each other – it’s changed the way we work.  There is a huge opportunity for organisations – waste producers, collectors, and processors – to embrace these new technologies and understand how they can accelerate a shift to even more sustainable waste management techniques.

Changing challenge

‘Disruptive’ businesses are everywhere these days. Airbnb is the world’s largest property finder without owning any estate – Uber is a pocket-friendly cab finder that has no cars of its own. These are perfect examples of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: digital, people-centred, and challenging traditional ways of doing business.

Some of the biggest companies in the world are digital, and use the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to deliver what they do. Google, Airbnb, Uber – they’re big because people have the technology to access them. And that’s because the rising middle classes of the increasing global population want to join the digital future.

That means we are putting increasing pressure on the Earth’s finite resources. From the way industry works to the way we handle waste, ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option.

Reserving resources

It isn’t just business that we can do differently. The paradigm shift of the Fourth Industrial Revolution can transform the way we handle our resources.

Zero waste is crucial to the changes in business and consumer behaviour around the world.

Zero waste is more than just about avoiding sending material to landfill. It’s about focusing on production and distribution systems – the whole integrated process, rather than individual elements. This disruptive approach is what we call ‘Supply Cycle Thinking’. It moves away from inefficient linear supply chains, where products are produced and discarded, towards a circular, resource-based Supply Cycle. Supply Cycles focus on keeping materials in the loop for as long as possible, thereby contributing to a far more efficient circular economy

If we start at the top of the waste hierarchy and redesign products and packaging, we can ensure that resources are kept in use for as long as possible. Discarded materials don’t need to end up in landfill or incinerators if they’re designed to become useful again.

How often do we buy products only to throw them away? Does that product really need to be disposed of? Have its parts come to the end of their useful life?

Like the technology that’s improving how we manage our lives, how can we boost resource management within our organisations?

In the EU, Philips has a stake in 22 organisations that collect 40% of all mercury-containing lamps put on the market, achieving a recycling rate greater than 95%. To improve their collection rate, Philips recently started to sell lighting as a service – not as lighting products and equipment.

They don’t sell lights: they ‘lease’ the light itself.

Philips says they can reach more customers if they retain ownership of the equipment. It works for everyone. Customers don’t have to pay upfront costs and Philips ensures the sound environmental management of end-of-life lighting equipment. It’s a new way for customers to achieve their sustainability goals – they achieve high lighting performance and high energy efficiency with a low materials footprint.

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution changing the world’s infrastructure, we have little choice. We have to embrace a different way, collaborating with all sectors within a supply cycle to secure resources for the future.

Revolution in resources

The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has already been felt on the resource management industry. Materials engineers are changing the products we consume, and new patterns of consumer behaviour, such as online purchasing, force the sector to review the collection and treatment of packaged goods, and how they can be recycled.

Recycling remains a key area for embracing Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.  That’s what we do at DS Smith – the paper and card we collect is sent to our paper mills for reprocessing, and the material we produce from that supplies our packaging facilities with the means to create new cardboard boxes. This closed-loop process takes 14 days and ensures materials continue to generate value within our supply cycle.

If that’s what we can do within our company, what can you do with yours?

Technological innovation is improving efficiency and productivity across global supply chains, helping collaboration within the transportation and logistics sectors. But what if we brought the focus to supply cycles – and keeping value in our resources as long as possible?

Change is in the air, and we’d be wise to learn from it. Think in circles and embrace zero waste to bring the power of the revolution to your resources.

 

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