Page 39 from: Recycling International May/June issue 2023
INTERVIEW
39recyclinginternational.com | May/June | 2023
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
their parents and grandparents. They
see the bigger picture and want to be
proud of what they’re doing. This is
one of the main ingredients for lead-
ers in a circular economy.’
Seeing family-owned recycling compa-
nies being taken over by the sons and
daughters growing up in the industry
is something Braungart find encourag-
ing. This trend is spreading to the
manufacturing side. One of his part-
ners, the Würth Group, is taking big
strides forward fuelled by the ‘bold
notions’ of chairwoman Bettina Würth.
‘She asked me, “Why would I want to
double our revenue when the world is
falling apart? Why would that be my
main priority right now?” She is
adjusting the targets to find the right
balance between well-made products
and healthy operational growth. It’s
wonderful seeing the next generation
transform their family companies into
alignment with cradle-to-cradle. It
shows great promise for the future.’
GETTING READY
While discussing products of the
future, Braungart mentions the ‘right
to repair’ campaign. I’m surprised he
isn’t a fan. ‘What are we celebrating
exactly? That big electronics produc-
ers make devices that fail so that we
have to fix them ourselves?’
He feels bad for any student who has
to complete a lifecycle assessment.
‘Young engineers spend too much
time thinking about dead things,
which is essentially what products are
at any point in time. Even during their
use phase, there is no life: they either
work or they don’t. The focus should
be on the material cycle. Are we put-
ting in things that make sense? In the
right places? Using the right meth-
ods? Otherwise, I’m afraid we’re just
adding years to a product that was
not meant to exist. How is that prog-
ress?’
Ultimately, boosting recycling best
practices starts with defining the use
phases and knowing what materials
will come back to the industry, in what
quantities and by what time. ‘This
way, we can scale up operations and
be ready when we need to be ready.’
Though Braungart acknowledges no
one can have a crystal ball, he is will-
ing to predict what the next 25 years
will hold. ‘Considering the leading
design and product engineering
schools are teaching classes on my
philosophy, I am confident that we can
keep up the momentum and reach a
fully cradle-to-cradle industry by that
time.’
The major difference, as he sees it, is
that students are no longer focussed
on the ‘beautification’ of an existing
product to make it more appealing to
consumers. ‘Today, there is a shift
away from sales to product impact.
Young talents are designing from the
ground up. This makes me very opti-
mistic about what awaits us.’
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: ‘Entrepreneurs should be seizing opportunities,
investing in R&D, in new technology, in new talent – not say-
ing sorry.’
36-37-38-39_michaelbraungart.indd 39 03-05-2023 16:54
