2025 is the year when reuse takes centre stage, driven by increasing environmental awareness, corporate sustainability initiatives, and changing consumer habits.

Even Hollywood has declared that this year’s trend is bringing vintage back to life, giving forgotten garments a new purpose.

We can say we have made progress, but today’s protagonist is not just the unsung hero of recycling; she is the one who has brought a new perspective on sustainability and reuse.

I am talking about Ellen MacArthur, a pioneer in the Circular Economy.

Before we dive into what the Circular Economy is, its purpose, and the benefits it can bring us, let's first understand who Ellen MacArthur is.

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Who Is Ellen MacArthur?

Ellen MacArthur was born in Whatstandwell, a small village in the Derbyshire district of England. From a young age, she displayed a keen interest in sailing, influenced by her early readings and experiences on the water.

Her first major success as a woman and an individual came in 2005 when she broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, surpassing French sailor Francis Joyon, who had held the record until then. Joyon managed to reclaim the record only in 2008.

Her interest in sailing was sparked by a desire to emulate her idol, Sophie Burke, and by reading Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons book series. The person who gave her the first opportunity to pursue her dream was her aunt, Thea MacArthur, who allowed her to sail a boat for the first time on the east coast of England.

Ellen has always been inspired by strong, independent women like herself, who are not afraid to chase their dreams.

2010 was the most significant year for Ellen, as she decided to retire from professional sailing and launch the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity that collaborates with businesses and educational institutions to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.

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What Is a Circular Economy?

To explain what a Circular Economy is, I want to share a quote from the foundation’s website because I find it very clear and comprehensive:

"The circular economy is a system where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in circulation through processes like maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling, and composting. The circular economy tackles climate change and other global challenges, like biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution, by decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources."

What Ellen is telling us is that we can transform every element of our take-make-waste system into a reuse model that will save us energy, time, and resources. In addition to benefiting our planet, this system allows products to be used indefinitely (or almost).

Building on this idea, we can break down the circular economy into three key principles:

1. Eliminate waste and pollution

2. Circulate products and materials (at their highest value)

3. Regenerate nature

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How Does the Circular Economy Work?

With the principles of the circular economy in mind, you might now be wondering how this system actually functions. To explain this, I encourage you to take a look at the Butterfly Diagram:

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On the left side of the diagram is the biological cycle, which concerns materials that can biodegrade and safely return to the earth. At the heart of the biological cycle is the concept of regeneration - remember, it is the third principle of the circular economy.

Instead of continuously degrading nature, as happens in a linear economy, we have the opportunity to build natural capital. How? By adopting farming practices that allow nature to regenerate soils and increase biodiversity. Ellen's goal is not just to minimize environmental damage but to actively find ways to improve the environment.

Ellen teaches us that it is possible to return nutrients from organic waste back to the soil through processes such as composting and anaerobic digestion, thereby reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers.

Now, let’s move to the right side of the Butterfly Diagram, where we find the technical cycle, which applies to products that are used rather than consumed. To illustrate this, let’s take the example of a smartphone. A working phone, Ellen argues, is worth more than the sum of its parts because the time and energy invested in making it are not lost.

That is why sharing, maintaining, and reusing should be prioritized over breaking down and remanufacturing products. MacArthur encourages individuals and especially businesses to make use of products and materials already in circulation rather than investing in producing new ones.

Contrary to popular belief, in Ellen MacArthur’s vision, recycling should be the last resort because it results in the loss of a product’s embedded value by reducing it to its basic materials.

It is crucial to remember that each stage works best when products are designed for longevity, sharing, and reuse. This means companies should focus on creating easily repairable, modular products with components that can be separated for recycling.

Designing for multiple life cycles is key.

Reuse and Sharing: A New Mindset

Ellen MacArthur emphasizes that a circular economy could help us reuse much more. Here, she gives an example that should make us think: the average power drill is used for just 13 minutes over its entire lifetime. This is a shocking underutilization - yet many of us own one at home. MacArthur asks: why not share it?

Her idea is to build community tool libraries, like the one already established in Toronto, to facilitate sharing and reuse. By paying a subscription, users can access higher-quality tools than they would purchase individually while also reducing clutter at home. Sharing can be applied to many types of products.

Think about car-sharing services, Airbnb for space-sharing, and even peer-to-peer platforms where insurance companies offer micro-insurance to those renting out their belongings.

However, MacArthur invites us to think even bigger and consider extending the lifespan of products. When we think about maintenance, we usually think of car servicing, but maintenance can apply to almost any product subject to wear and tear.

The Growth of Reuse-Based Business Models

The next stage in the technical cycle of the Butterfly Diagram is reuse. Business models based on reuse are emerging across various industries, especially packaging. More and more companies are eliminating plastic packaging in sectors ranging from food and beverages to cosmetics and household cleaning products.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, another rapidly growing sector is fashion. Increasingly, people are selling their unwanted clothes and buying second-hand items through resale platforms, often at a fraction of the price of new clothing. This reduces the need for new production and prevents unwanted garments from becoming waste.

So there you have it.

Ellen MacArthur's work demonstrates that the circular economy is not just a theory but a necessary and achievable shift.

For example, major companies like Patagonia and IKEA have implemented circular economy principles by offering repair services and second-hand resale programs. By rethinking our approach to materials and product design, we can move from a wasteful, linear system to one that regenerates, shares, and maximizes value.

Whether through maintenance, sharing, or reuse, every step we take toward a circular economy helps us build a more sustainable and resilient future.

The question now is: Are we ready to embrace it?

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