Our Lack of Awareness of Circular Economy and RePurpose Global’s Work
- Isabella Perez
- Jun 8, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 11, 2024
The circular economy is about taking action to minimize waste through recycling and reusing, or as Erick Orts said “closing the loop on the cycle”. Nowadays, what we have in our society is more like a linear economy in which products and produced, consumed, and then wasted. People don’t have the knowledge or accessible ways in which to recycle plastic products so they are thrown in the trash right away, contaminating our oceans, and rainforests, harming human health, and poverty as many plastic production facilities are located near marginalized communities, excluding them from decision-making and impacting their health, and waste workers who collect our plastic wastes and are exploited because of our excessive mindless consumption and waste of plastic. The goal of a circular economy is to reduce waste by reusing materials to make products and therefore reduce the impact of plastics on our environment, as Orts explained, by reusing materials we are closing the loop on where we are sourcing things, using recycled materials to create new products we are not using new things.
Education and information are the first places in which to start, especially in developing countries. Personally, what I have seen in Colombia is that is ironic to see how sometimes we deal with plastic waste in our streets; however, people usually discriminate against those in our society who make a living out of picking the plastic, who often live in poor conditions and are not well connected to recycling companies, exactly like the Kabandha Wallahs that Svanika Balasubramanian from RePurpose Global talked about in her interview “An Ethical Recycling Supply Chain in India” by the Wharton Global Youth Program. So, it’s like “Hey, you don’t want plastic in our streets, but you judge the people doing the job that you don’t dare to?... that is ironic, but concerning”. This leads me to think that there really should be more awareness of the circular economy so that more business owners, students, and people, in general, inform themselves about this and find out ways in which they could take action. Speaking from a personal experience, when I became interested in learning about the impact of the textile industry on our environment and the working conditions of people in the industry, I began to donate my clothes to organizations for people in need or sell them online to give my clothes a second use and avoid product waste, as well buying second-hand clothes.
It is very important for schools to implement education on circular economy in their curriculums and motivate high school students to learn about ways in which they can leave positive impacts in their society. Not only this but to also have programs and organizations that can engage our communities in active recycling and learning about how can we implement this practice in business models and companies, and even in our actions, as well as laws implemented by our governments that force us to include recycling in our everyday lives, and change our consumer habits. While I don’t believe that awareness is enough to inspire activism, I believe that persuasion, learning about the consequences of plastic in our environment and observing it first-hand, identifying problems in the system, having role models that inspire others, and having organizations that help households, companies, and businesses to change their ways of manufacturing to reduce waste, actually work and can drive people toward activist causes.
RePurpose Global's Work
Peter Wang Hjemdahl, one of the co-founders of rePurpose Global based in New York City, envisions a world without waste as part of the circular economy. His mission to minimize plastic waste extends beyond simple endeavors, such as turning masks into owl boxes, and embraces a much larger scale.
Working alongside his co-founders, Svanika Balasubramanian and Aditya Siroya, Peter established rePurpose Global while they were still undergraduates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Since their graduation in 2018, they have transformed rePurpose Global into a significant force in the fight against plastic pollution, reshaping the world’s approach to waste management. Their commitment to the circular economy model has led them to address plastic waste comprehensively, with the company boasting a recovery of over 47,400 pounds of plastic that was destined for nature.
As Peter Wang Hjemdahl said, plastic waste is a “multi-dimensional social and environmental problem”. Oftentimes we fail to consider its impact on our society and health. However, the greatest segment of people affected by plastic waste is waste pickers, especially those in developing countries, since there is not a structured system for recycling, waste pickers are often over-exploited, and are not well connected to recycling companies that can buy their collected plastic, this causes waste pickers to live in extreme poverty and aside from this, they are also exposed germs and bacteria and hazardous fumes at waste sites that can cause them to have health problems and respiratory illnesses.
Putting it this way, RePurpose Global’s work is inspiring and encouraging to me, and seems to be leaving a great impact by connecting plastic collectors with sources from which they can effectively collect their plastics, and recycling companies that can buy their collected plastics, as well as helping businesses to reduce plastic waste and implement the concept of circular economy.
Below, you can find the links to the interviews and articles cited
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