Circularity is a word enjoying its moment in the Glasgow COP spotlight.
The circularity concept is inspired by nature. Nature has perfected its circular systems to recycle resources efficiently whether it is nutrients on a coral reef or the falling leaves in Autumn.
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation has put circularity at the centre of its vision for the future. It recognises that the transition to renewable energy is only half the story. In parallel, it argues we need to redesign our economy in three ways; to eliminate waste and pollution, to circulate products and materials and to regenerate nature.
Thinking in circles is not constraining, it opens up huge opportunities. As ever, Scotland’s entrepreneurs are there already. Jo and Stuart Chidley, building on their success with Beauty Kitchen, last week launched Re – the means to reuse, refill and reduce our reliance on single use plastics. Faisal Ghani, CEO of Dundee based SolarisKit, has developed a flat-packable solar water heater and last week won the top ScottishEDGE Net Zero Award. David Mowat, Ian Nolan and their co-founders were way ahead of the game when they created Circularity Capital in 2015 in Scotland – a first of its kind globally.
Circularity has powerful lessons beyond climate change, especially for our policy makers and economic agencies. In my world of scale-ups and entrepreneurship, one of the biggest challenges is how to ensure high potential teams get the resources they need when they need them. Often the clamour is for Governments and investors to channel yet more resources into the system. Don’t get me wrong, we do need this, however, in our hunger for new resources we can do more to reuse the resources we already have.
The better we are at recycling existing capital, talent or know-how the less new resource we need to inject in afresh. We can do more to engineer circularity when a firm exits, like a Skyscanner, which has seen investment, talent and expertise look for new opportunities. Peer networks, angel investors and entrepreneurial incubators are the recyclers of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It can be tough when resources leak out the country through international investors or skilled entrepreneurs hitting the golf course.
More controversially, we could do so much more to recycle the resources in our firms that are not going to make it – these zombie firms lock up resources denying access to those who could put them to better use. Schumpeterian creative destruction has a revitalising role in our entrepreneurial economy. Often it is the taboos around failure that hold us back, nothing else.
Looking to local economic development, circularity emerges again as a powerful concept. Community Wealth Building is founded on the principle that we can do much more to ensure resources generated in a local economy are redirected back into that local economy and not leaked away. This in turn spurs local entrepreneurship and grass roots ownership. There are bold endeavours already underway around Scotland from the Midsteeple Quarter and Crichton Campus in Dumfries to the West Harris Community Trust in the north.
Too often we think in straight lines. Our linear, logical approach drives us into the future casting off what we don’t need with little care. Like nature we can think in circles, in loops. How to make best use of the considerable resources we do have. How to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit to keep trying new ways, especially amidst the grassroots. Here lies the answers to many of our big questions, from climate change to inclusive economic growth.
Sandy Kennedy, entrepreneurial optimist
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here