http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/22/samans-davos-how-garbage-can-boost-us-economy/4774147/
According to this article, the United States' economy could benefit from a circular economy. By reusing goods, or repurposing them such as old clothing, computers, and cell phones. Taking old clothes that would otherwise be thrown away and turning them into stuffing, insulation or yarn could be a $12 billion a year industry. The article states that each outdated smartphone has as much as $100 in the value of the materials inside, but only if manufacturers make them easier to take apart when the reach the end of their lifecycle. The idea behind a circular economy is to "derive the maximum value out of any used goods that can partially be reused. However, this would require that firms would need to stop thinking that every product they make will eventually be thrown away. They must think during the design phase of their products how each part of the product could be reused in the future. Recycling, particularly when keeping the circular economy in mind, could be a $1 trillion a year sector worldwide and in many places is already very lucrative. This could be the future for new products.
Interesting article. I remember seeing an ad for something similar on YouTube about how phone parts can be reused and recycled. But being environmentally conscious is not always a popular move, as evidenced by a reluctance to turn to alternative energy sources. Good to see that there is money in this! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very creative article and I enjoyed reading the facts about how much we can recycle from things that we already use. I think that this is the kind of innovation and thinking that will be used more in the future. According to the article, it seems to be that there is more growth in "remanufacturing" and this is something that the United States needs to explore more.
ReplyDeleteI think this a very good idea and something that the United Stated should look farther into. The only thing that may hinder this is if the process of recycling all these goods and all the extra time put in by the manufactures ends up costing more then reusing these items. I do not think this would be the case it is just something the United States would have to figure out in order to make this successful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Colin, we need to consider the money and time it takes to recycle these products. The concept of use and throw creates a lot more waste than needed. Instead of recycling(if the cost is too high), there should be options for cheaper services where the items can be repaired and reused.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Colin and Erica on this one. Theoretically, recycling and reusing items in way or another is beneficial in more than one way but at the end of the day if the overall cost of this process is too high for firms they will not take the initiative. However, personally, I feel like firms should start to think about this and assign at least a bit of R&D towards such a stuff as there is a possibility it could help them out in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWhile it could take much more money to be able to do this, maybe it could potentially create jobs for those who are currently unemployed with little skill. This could be costly but it is very interesting for firms to look into, and maybe be rewarded for the more they recycle?
ReplyDeleteThis article points out the positive affects of recycling used materials. It points out how each old smartphone contains $100 worth of usable materials, however now only 20% of this material is being recycled globally. Apple gives incentives to their customers to return old Apple products by giving a discount on a new purchase, such as an iPod, if an old version is returned at the time of sale. The article points out that the cost of manufacturing mobile phones could be cut in half if old parts and refurbished old phones were conserved. This goes into the article’s explanation of a “circular economy”.
ReplyDeleteRecycling has become popular in our country recently, stemming from the worry of Global Warming. It is interesting to see the actual potential outcome recycling has and how it can help an economy save money. Colin makes an interesting point about the time and money that goes into the recycling process, however I think there are solutions to these issues that companies, such as Apple, are already figuring out.