by Brianna Crandall — January 26, 2015—Over 200,000 new jobs could be needed across Britain from the continued development of resource efficient activity to 2030, such as recycling, reuse and remanufacturing, according to a study by nonprofits WRAP and Green Alliance. This could likely happen in other countries as they move towards resource efficiency as well.
The report, Employment and the Circular Economy: Job Creation in a More Resource Efficient Britain , indicates that development of resource efficiency, unlike other industrial transitions, requires more labor.
A “circular economy” is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them while in use, then recovering and reusing products and materials, explains WRAP.
Examples of circular business models include designing goods to last longer, which can lead to greater reuse; greater reparability, which can support the growing remanufacturing industry; and allowing for easy recovery of materials when a product is eventually recycled. Service models such as product maintenance and take-back schemes, as well as rental and peer-to-peer sharing models, also hold much potential, notes WRAP.
Significantly, regions in the U.K. where unemployment is higher could see the greatest impact in job creation, especially among low- to mid-skilled occupations where job losses are projected for the future. Thus, movement toward a circular economy with resource efficiency could deliver jobs where they are needed the most, notes WRAP.
On the current development path, by 2030 the sector could: require an extra 205,000 jobs; reduce unemployment by around 54,000; and offset 11 percent of future job losses in skilled employment.
Walter R. Stahel, originator of the circular economy concept, commented, “A circular economy will directly create numerous jobs with a broad diversity of skills at local and regional level, and give rise to new SMEs exploiting opportunities in the local loops. In addition, a circular economy will create skilled jobs to develop the innovative processes and technologies needed ‘to most profitably close the loops’—innovations which can be sold abroad.”
