No one dares to deny that the planet is suffering the consequences of an excessive pollution with a very difficult to cease inertia. It seems that the EU has found an alternative to our production patterns in order to turn them into viable and sustainable systems; circular economy.

Until now we have remained in just recycle. Even we have progressed to the 3 R Law: Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. But this is not enough because we still continue to consume resources and creating waste at a frenzied rate. That’s how we came with the MULTI-R of the circular economy.

This concept comes from the Redesign in a way that from its creation they are Rethought to take the most of them once that their useful life is over. In that way, we would have to Remanufacture the products so they were simpler to Repair or upgrade without manufacture them from zero. We could also use some pieces to be reused by other industries or even Redistribute it to other people. They are designed to Reduce the generated waste so this products could be Reused and Recycled to make the most of the raw material in a more efficient way. Ultimately we could also Recover the energy that still retain the waste. It is estimated that with this model we could reduce CO2 emissions by 70%.

To make it easier, we are going to use as an example the cycle of an aluminium window. Imagine that you want to replace the windows in your house for more efficient ones with a better Thermal Break and triple glass. You could send us your windows and for a lower price than new ones, to improve them. Even we could repair the damaged hardware. However, if these had ended their lives; we could rebuy you the profiles to reuse them in other products with lower standards. We could give you a good discount in your new windows! At the end of all these processes, aluminium can be recycled by 100% reducing energy consumption by 95% compared with its extraction from bauxite.

In this process all the agents win, that’s why in Europe are taking very seriously changing the model to circular economy. Just using recycled product in a tiny percentage within new products it is not enough to change the situation of the planet. And we are sorry to tell you that there are materials which have no place in circular economy. They cannot be upgraded, reused or recycled in an efficient way. Think of this when you choose your windows.

If you want to know more we have this article about aluminium sustainability and its cycle of life.

We also recommend this video which is very clarifying and easy to understand: (Here)