That the new times call for new approaches from companies in relation to their impacts on the environment is a point that is practically indisputable today. That is the foundation upon which ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors rest, after all. Because the consolidation of this idea makes room for more specific and practical aspects of business \u2014 the \u201chow\u201d to do more with less, eliminate post-consumer waste and use less finite natural resources. In summary, it is a matter of exchanging a linear view for another, much more reasonable and perennial one: a flow perspective.<\/p>\n
This is the basis of the so-called circular economy, which advocates keeping the entire production cycle within the same \u201cwheel\u201d. The relevance of this turning point at a time when it is clear that societies can no longer turn their backs on the wrong way in which the environment is treated (the pandemic is there to show the tragedy that can arise from an inadequate relationship with nature) it already leads the owners of the money to realize the possibility of gains. Investing in companies that take these aspects into account can ensure that assets retain value over the long term. On the contrary, companies that downplay the importance of this agenda tend to alienate investors more and more.<\/p>\n
Data from the Ellen McArthur Foundation, a reference institution in monitoring the circular economy, show that the number of investment funds with this focus increased tenfold from 2016 to the beginning of 2020. Total resources with targeting jumped from 360 million dollars to 2 billion dollars in that range.<\/p>\n
Green Deal<\/p>\n
As Evy Hambro, global head of thematic and sectoral investments at BlackRock, observed in an interview with the Citywire portal, post-pandemic economic stimuli, such as the Green Deal, tend to be concentrated in green industries and should benefit companies that operate in a circular fashion. . He made reference to the European Union's plan to reduce carbon emissions and encourage sustainable economic growth, whose name alludes to the post-Depression US economic recovery program in the 1930s.<\/p>\n
But what exactly would this wheel be? The circular economy mimics the workings of nature itself. Just observe the cycle of a forest. Falling leaves decompose, feed the roots and micro-organisms under the soil give birth to new plants, which grow and become food for animals that, in turn, die and also become fertilizer. This dance is paced, it does not generate waste. So can the economy, as long as ways are found for the products to be used to the fullest \u2014 what is \u201cleft over\u201d goes back to the wheel as raw material and the cycle starts again.<\/p>\n
For this system to work, one factor is critical: a new mindset in terms of design. Prior to production, goods must be developed in a way that allows for subsequent separation of their components to be recycled and\/or used as inputs for other products. The industrial system, therefore, works in an integrated and regenerative way, like the forest.<\/p>\n
The clothing sector well represents the importance of the design already developed with the perspective of circularity. Recycling clothing and other textile items is a challenge because the products have many different fibers in their composition \u2014 recycling cotton does not involve the same techniques as recycling synthetic yarns. And as in general the pieces have many materials mixed in, when they are discarded they inevitably end up in dumps or sanitary landfills, where they take years (even centuries) to decompose. In this sector, therefore, adherence to the circular economy would depend on a more intelligent pre-production design, which would facilitate the segregation of materials for recycling and reuse.<\/p>\n
Creativity as an asset<\/p>\n
As it depends on creativity to solve problems \u2014 quickly and at low cost \u2014 the circular economy is fertile ground for the proliferation of startups, full of ideas and young entrepreneurs interested in having a planet to live on in the future (in addition to the dividends that the good and unpublished insights almost always pay off).<\/p>\n
Around the world, there are countless new companies launching solutions to place the most varied products within a circular flow. They offer everything from cleaning products, shampoos and conditioners in tablets, a format that dispenses with plastic packaging with many layers (they can reach the shelves in recyclable or compostable cardboard boxes) to reusable containers made with resistant metals, as is the case with steel cans. stainless steel for bulk purchases \u2014 you can even fill a container of H\u00e4agen-Dazs ice cream several times, respecting the circular logic.<\/p>\n
The presence of startups does not exclude large companies, which also invest heavily in research and development of new materials and packaging. And good insights abound as well. A very interesting example is the case of the six-packs of Carlsberg beer sold in the United Kingdom. Instead of the units being wrapped in a plastic bag, each one gets a little glue. Once stuck together, they can be easily carried around by consumers \u2014 and the glue can be easily removed afterwards.<\/p>\n
The giant Swedish furniture and homewares chain Ikea is already experiencing large-scale adoption of circular economy processes, to which it intends to be fully integrated by 2030. more and resells them in a second-hand market. If the pandemic had not spoiled the plans, athletes who climbed the podium at the Tokyo Olympics would receive medals made of metals and metal alloys (gold, silver and bronze) recovered from recycled electronic equipment.<\/p>\n
indicators are missing<\/p>\n
Although motivation, initiative and ideas are not lacking, the circular economy has not yet entered the global industry mainstream \u2014 that is, it is not, for the time being, the predominant dynamic. This perhaps explains the relative scarcity of assets with this focus for investments, especially among companies listed on the stock exchange.<\/p>\n
As with ESG, investors cannot rely on standardized indicators that allow an accurate assessment of companies' circular activities. There are some attempts, such as those of the Ellen McArthur Foundation (Circulytics) and the circular transition indicators, of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, but they lack company.<\/p>\n
It is worth, for now, a meticulous work of selection. BlackRock's BGF Circular Economy Fund, for example (launched in 2019 and worth $900 million), invests in a Norwegian company called Tomra, a world leader in reverse vending machines. These machines, instead of selling drinks and snacks, buy aluminum cans, paying the consumer directly. In the mind of the reader who is over 40 years old, the image of the good old \u201chull\u201d of drinks probably comes to mind. After all, ideas, like economics, can also be circular.<\/p>\n
Source: Capital Aberto \u2013 01\/22\/2021<\/b><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Que os novos tempos pedem novas abordagens das empresas em rela\u00e7\u00e3o aos seus impactos no ambiente \u00e9 ponto hoje praticamente indiscut\u00edvel. Essa \u00e9 a funda\u00e7\u00e3o sobre o qual se assentam os fatores ESG (ambientais, sociais e de governan\u00e7a), afinal. Pois a consolida\u00e7\u00e3o dessa ideia abre espa\u00e7o para aspectos mais espec\u00edficos e pr\u00e1ticos dos neg\u00f3cios \u2014 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-curiosidades","category-noticias"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2042"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2453,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions\/2453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmp.ind.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}