Page 38 from: Recycling International May/June issue 2023

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about reducing our footprint.
Entrepreneurs should be seizing
opportunities, investing in R&D, in
new technology, in new talent – not
saying sorry.’

PERFORMANCE OVER PACKAG-
ING
Braungart recalls at school wanting to
impress his beautiful chemistry teach-
er by taking apart and reassembling a
video recorder to list the 300-plus
components and chemicals inside. ‘I
understood that people don’t want to
own the long list of materials in their
devices; they just want to watch Larry
King Live. It’s all about its functional-
ity.’
Smart producers sell performance, not
the product or its packaging. ‘Take
washing machines. Consumers expect
at least 3 000 washing cycles during
its lifetime. They don’t care what plas-
tics you put in there or how many as
long as the machine works efficiently
and lasts as long as possible.’
It’s the same for LED bulbs.
‘Consumers want 1 300 hours of light.
That’s your business model right
there. No need to overthink.’
The word ‘unrecyclable’ poses an
interesting issue for Braungart. ‘We
can create recycling systems for prac-
tically anything – and we have. Even
for lightweight plastics. They are
cheap to produce but, down the line,
cost more to process than the scrap is
worth. Meanwhile, we’re pointing fin-
gers at developing countries because
of their plastic pollution problem.’

FAMILY-OWNED
Braungart says people come to him
with different motivations. ‘Some ceos
want to certify their products because
it’s ethical to do so in the current busi-
ness climate. I’m not so convinced
because ethics quickly disappear
when it’s no longer convenient or eco-
nomically viable. Being ethical is
expensive, you could argue.’
He is pleased the younger generation
is taking the circular economy to
heart. ‘Youngsters writing to me seem
to care a lot more about their reputa-
tion and taking responsibility than
money, especially when compared to

numbers,’ Braungart argues.
‘They don’t realise this leaves intact
the status quo. They’re optimising the
wrong things by making them perfect-
ly wrong.’ He shakes his head.
‘They’re missing the actual point and
we have to stop lying to ourselves.
Sustainability could be the true
growth engine of the future.’

COMMERCIAL REALITIES
Braungart suggests ex-President
Donald Trump is the most ‘honest liar’
of them all. ‘He told over a thousand
verifiable lies during his time as presi-
dent, almost making the public expect
it. At least his words are transparent.’
Popular brands are not much differ-
ent, he argues, as they’ve become
good at spinning the facts. ‘It seems
second nature making their product
seem more durable, eco-friendly or
recyclable than it really is.’
The transport sector is seen as a typi-
cal example. Cars may be dismantled,
their precious metals recovered,
smelted and recycled but the materi-
als rarely go back into the automotive

sector. Even the glass from their win-
dows do not become new windows.
‘Cars being recycled into cars isn’t a
commercial reality yet. Instead, the
metals serve as lower-grade construc-
tion materials, such as concrete-rein-
forcement steel. I don’t care what they
call it; recycling, downcycling or what-
ever – to me, it’s just stupid. Why
aren’t products designed to be
remade into the same product once
it’s scrapped?’
It doesn’t help, Braungart argues, that
Mercedes Benz uses 45 different
alloys, six of which ensure anti-corro-
sion. He wonders why one isn’t
enough.
‘It would not only limit the amount of
alloys, it would be a lot more worth-
while to recycle steel from vehicles
and other structures.’
Because of mounting pressure to
report on sustainability, carmakers
have been publishing their short and
long-term goals with BMW aiming for
its first cradle-to-cradle car in 2025.
Braungart is impressed: ‘It’s an ambi-
tious target I attribute mostly to com-

pany shareholder Susanne Klatten. I
know her. She is a big believer in cir-
cularity and is pushing for real change
within the automotive sector.’

POINTLESS SMALL VICTORIES
The chemist emphasises that recycling
metals in a closed loop is critical.
‘When I was a child, copper ore had
approximately 35kg of copper per
tonne. This is down to less than 5kg of
copper per tonne now. Getting the
metal back at end-of-life stage is a
must.’
Braungart points out that the copper
mining and production industry gener-
ates more waste in Europe than its
entire recycling industry. ‘This is a
common problem for a lot of materi-
als. But what do we do? We ban plas-
tic bags and straws. It’s like rearrang-
ing the deck chairs on the Titanic. It’s
almost funny.’
He says the focus on ‘small victories’,
highlighted in the media, shows that
some ceos don’t get it. ‘Cradle-to-
cradle is about celebrating our cre-
ativity, curiosity, know-how etc, not

Braungart:
‘Smart produc-
ers sell perfor-
mance, not the
product or its
packaging.’

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