“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
Introduction
Everything is interrelated and linked with each other. The Sun plays a key role in the hydrological cycle, constantly evaporating water into the atmosphere. Some of that water is returned as rain, snow and dew. Part of this precipitation rapidly evaporates back into the atmosphere. Some drains into lakes and rivers to commence a journey back to the sea. Some infiltrates into the soil to sustain groundwater or soil moisture. Under natural conditions, the groundwater gradually works its way back into surface waters and makes up the main source of dependable river flow. Plants incorporate some of the soil moisture and groundwater into their tissues and release some into the atmosphere in the process of transpiration. The hydrological cycle moves enormous quantities of water about the globe, all thanks to the energy from the sun.
Content: What are 17 SDG Goals
- What are Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Goals?
- How are they interrelated with each other?
- How do we interpret them?
- Conclusion
Objective
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the concept of a circular economy are intrinsically linked, as both aim to promote sustainability, resource efficiency, and environmental protection while fostering economic growth and social well-being.
Once you go through the article, you will understand, what is the meaning of the circular economy and 17 SDG goals, how they are interrelated with each other and how we can understand their importance in our personal and professional lives.
Read More: https://bit.ly/LinearCircularEconomy
Definition:
Circular Economy (Cl 3.1.1): Economic system that uses a systematic approach to maintain a circular flow of resources by recovering, retaining or adding to their value while contributing to sustainable development.
Sustainable Development (Cl 3.1.11): Development that meets the environmental, social economic needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
Life Cycle (Cl 3.2.4): Consecutive and interlinked stages in the life of a solution.
Linear Economy (Cl 3.5.10): Economic system where resources typically follow the pattern of extraction, production, use and disposal.
End of Life (Cl 3.5.30): <Product> point in time when a product is taken out of use and its resources are either recovered for processing or disposed of.
Life Cycle Assessment (Cl 3.6.8): Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.
Read More: https://bit.ly/ReduceRecyleReuse
Detailed Information
The global economy is “linear” as it is mainly based on extraction, production, use and disposal. This linear economy leads to resource depletion, biodiversity loss, waste and harmful losses and releases.
There is an increased understanding that a transition towards an economy that is more circular, based on a circular use of resources, can contribute to meeting current and future human needs (welfare, housing, nutrition, healthcare, mobility, etc.).
The ISO 59000 family of standards is designed to harmonise the understanding of the circular economy and to support its implementation and measurement.
Sustainability is an essential part of facing current and future global challenges, not only those related to the environment. It’s a holistic approach that considers the social, environmental and economic impacts of actions and decisions taken today.
Read More: https://bit.ly/ClimateChnages
Circular Economy: The circular economy is an economic system that aims to eliminate waste and the continual use of resources by creating a closed-loop system. In a circular economy, products, materials, and resources are kept in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them while in use, and then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of each service life.
SDG (Sustainable Development Goals): The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all.
There are 169 targets across the 17 SDGs.
- These targets specify the actions required to achieve the overarching goals by 2030.
- There are 231 unique indicators used to measure progress towards these targets.
- These indicators are tools to monitor and assess progress, ensuring accountability and guiding policy interventions.
Linkage of Circular Economy and SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the concept of a circular economy are intrinsically linked, as both aim to promote sustainability, resource efficiency, and environmental protection while fostering economic growth and social well-being. Below is an overview of their alignment:
The following are the SDGs which are linked with the Circular economy.
- SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing)
- SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure)
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production)
- SDG 13: Climate Change
- SDG 14: Life Below Water
- SDG 15: Life on Land
Read More: https://bit.ly/17SDGGoals
SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination. | 3.9.2: Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services). | Recycled and cleaned wastewater (cubic meters per day) avoiding pollution of the river. |
| 3.9.3: Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning.
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Reduced hazardous waste to landfills avoiding soil pollution.
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| Ratio (on-site or internal) water reuse or recirculation |
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally. | 6.3.1: Proportion of wastewater safely treated. | Water use or reduce (m3) per source (waterboard, rainwater, water of river/lake, groundwater) in operations.
Water recycled (m3) within an organization or between organizations. |
| 6.4.1: Change in water-use efficiency over time. | Reduced or prevented hazardous chemicals into water sources. |
SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. | 7.2.1: Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption. | Reduction of energy resources (renewable and non-renewable), due to material resource efficiency.
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| Energy savings due to refurbishing or remanufacturing of a product portfolio. Example: Vehicle Engine |
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, by the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead. | 8.4.1: Material footprint, material footprint per capita and material footprint per GDP (Fossil Fuel, Metal ores, timber etc.). | Primary material resources (mass) used in procured road infrastructure per region. |
| 8.4.2: DMC (Domestic Material Consumption), DMC per capita, and DMC per GDP. | Reused material resources (mass) in the automotive sector of country X (Recycled plastic, used Tyres recycled into material for road laying). |
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management. | 11.6.1: Proportion of urban solid waste regularly collected and with adequate final discharge out of total urban solid waste generated, by cities. | Recycled paper, glass, plastic and food waste (mass/year) per city avoiding incineration and landfill of waste material. |
| Recycled E-waste (mass/year) per city. |
Read More: https://bit.ly/3PillersSustainability
SDG 13: Climate Change
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| Country specific Targets | Country specific indicators | Reduced GHG emissions due to refurbishing (smartphone, car bumper), remanufacturing (car engine, industrial machine) and recycling (in tons of CO2 equivalents) per sector in country X. |
| Reduced GHG emissions due to redesign of fossil fuel equipment to solar energy equipment (in tons of CO2 equivalents) per sector in country X. | ||
| Percentage of renewable energy for all processes, including biofuels and biogas from residual sources or co-products. |
SDG 14: Life Below Water
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, from land-based activities, including marine debris (plastic, metal glass etc.) and nutrient pollution. | 14.1.1: Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density. | Plastic packaging reduced (to avoid losses to rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans). |
| Waste pollution is reduced or prevented by biodegradable products instead of non-biodegradable-based products. |
SDG 15: Life on Land
| SDG Targets | SDG Indicator | Circularity |
| Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats (forests for animals), halt the loss of biodiversity (Variety of life on earth like animals, plants, insects etc.) and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species. | Difficult to define | Reduced hazardous releases to soil and air by replacing chemical pesticides with biodegradable pesticides, avoiding toxic diseases for insects and birds. |
| Reused wood (pallet packaging, construction demolition) avoiding deforestation (number of trees/year). | ||
| Use of biological material from agricultural production methods that regenerate biodiversity. | ||
| Percentage of materials that have been safely returned to the environment through composting, biodegradation or nutrient recirculation. |
Read More: https://bit.ly/CircularEconomyPrinciplesC
Challenges to Implementation
- Policy misalignment and lack of incentives.
- Limited awareness and technological gaps.
- High upfront costs for circular systems.
Conclusion:
The SDGs represent a universal call to action to create a more equitable, just, and sustainable world. They serve as a roadmap for governments, businesses, and individuals to make decisions that ensure the well-being of people and the planet, not only in the present but also for future generations.
By integrating circular economy principles, countries can achieve progress on multiple SDGs simultaneously, creating a more sustainable and resilient future.
Read More: https://bit.ly/ISO59000Series
References:
ISO 59020: 2024
Industry Experts
This is the 225th article of this Quality Management series. Every weekend, you will find useful information that will make your Management System journey Productive. Please share it with your colleagues too.
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