The Role of Digitalization in Circularity

by Justin Lindemann, NC State Master of International Studies ‘22

The United States creates a lot of physical trash, and much of the nation's garbage and recyclables have been sent overseas to low-income nations – where it collects and pollutes. However, with recent international upheaval against taking in the trash from industrialized countries, many usual overseas partners – like China – have decided to send back or cut off acceptance of foreign junk, forcing many US cities like Philadelphia, PA and Flagstaff, AZ to take control of their local waste collection and processing. With low-income communities putting bans on taking the globe's garbage, big cities need to control waste consumption and processes. In order to make sure that municipalities stop careless consumption and production practices that leave our air, water and soil with debris and poison, we need to transition our cities to circularity.

One approach that can help this transition is digitalization —the employment of digital tools to transform business-as-usual operations and models.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Digitalization provides many benefits for circularity by helping overcome many of the technical barriers. This includes the need to track and trace materials across a products' life cycle; managing data loops and sharing data to multiple users regarding a product; creating eco-designs of products for waste reduction and upgradeability of a product; allowing comparability of products and performance by consumers and buyers; allowing for peer-to-peer sharing and exchanging, and allowing for the repairability of products and expansion of repair services.

Digitalization provides a tool to close a linear cycle into a continuous loop of reuse and efficiency; this allows for products to live longer alongside our consumption habits through the utilization of digital tools and data. Applying digital tools minimizes production waste, promotes longer product lifespans, and reduces any unnecessary transaction costs and emissions. Enhancing aspects like interoperability (the ability of computer products and systems to connect and exchange information with each other) and expanding the Internet of Things, or IoT (the network of physical objects/things that are embedded with software that allow them to connect to other objects or the internet), can do wonders for integrating digitalization into a circular city. Additionally, rapidly evolving digital tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (a system of informational records and digital ledgers) can also further enhance the efficiency of waste and emissions reduction.

Nevertheless, to help illustrate digitalization’s real-world applications, we can examine three sources of wasteful city consumption: value and supply chains, vehicle usage and emissions, and water usage. Within each waste source, we have seen digitalization already breaking ground for new circular innovations and benefits among cities.

DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORTS

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First, when it comes to digital passports, many of us have seen them being used for vaccination campaigns and air travel. Fortunately, within supply chains – with the help of blockchain and other security measures – the data we collect through digitalization can be transferred safely to other devices for viewing, such as the circularity information of a particular product. This allows for transparent circular data to be shared amongst a variety of stakeholders so that the circularity potential of a specific product or material can be certified and checked by third parties and/or consumers. This will create a digital fingerprint for products. Through interoperable functionality and IoT, sharing this data with others can be done easily. One such example is the introduction of a digital product passport by the European Union (EU). This passport would contain information about the makeup of a product, so that actors across the supply chain know how to reuse or treat it correctly at an attributable waste management facility. In the earliest part of 2022, multiple EU cities will have access to such product passports.

RIDE-SHARING

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Second, when it comes to city transportation, there are already multiple alternatives to choose from. Yet, with all the public transposition improvements, cities are still producing most greenhouse gas emissions. Thankfully, if we further build-out and expand access to those alternatives and additional assistive digital platforms, both will help ensure reductions in city emissions by targeting common offenders, such as traffic congestion and combustion vehicles. 

Examples such as ride-sharing (ex. Uber and Lyft) and bike/scooter sharing services (ex. Lime and Bird), show how interoperability of devices and the broader IoT allows us to connect with potential drivers and unlock bikes/scooters safely and securely, raising the presence of carpooling and healthy modes of transportation. This eliminates for some the necessity of having to purchase personal modes of transportation. The emissions reduction potential of traveling with the use of these alternatives is gradually rising, as a 2018-2019 study on Lime’s environmental impact in the French capital of Paris showed that the micromobility alternative prevented 1.2 million car trips in the city. Raleigh is taking part in the alternative travel expansion as well, by inviting three new companies to be part of its city-wide dockless scooter program, including companies like Lime, Bolt, and Spin. Scooter companie, Spin and Bolt already provide services to the city of Durham.

SMARTER WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

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The US is wasting on average 1 trillion gallons of water annually. Luckily, digitalization has a circular solution by eliminating some waste at the source through smart water technology. This type of technology revolves around data collection, sharing, and analysis from water equipment, networks, and utilities, for the purpose of finding leaks, inefficient energy use, and predicting infrastructural failings while ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. According to the US Water Alliance, smart water and a digitalized augmentation of water infrastructure can even help treat emerging water contaminants and address water distribution leaks. The technology has many uses, like helping Central Valley, CA farmers trade water with one another through blockchain to safely and securely reduce the chance of decimated crop yields.

Overall, innovations such as these have the potential to significantly reduce wasteful city consumption, while fostering repair initiatives and educating consumers. Plus, with more than 56% of the global population living in urbanized areas, and 57% of the NC population as well, municipalities can revolutionize consumer habits and supply chains by fitting technological innovations such as the digital product passport, ride-share expansion, and digital water consumption systems into a circular city model. 

Without a doubt, circular solutions are needed for diverting as much waste production as possible, optimizing our water infrastructure, reducing vehicle emissions, and ensuring longer product life spans. However, not every circular solution can be implemented without digital tools. Using digitalization, cities can get the boost they need to implement circularity. It will speed up the process of transitioning out of a linear economy.

We have the technology; we have the solutions; why not combine the two and see just how positive the circular change can be?

For further innovations regarding the intersection between circular economics and digital platforms, check out this video from the Ellen McArthur Foundation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9NxkA_i_7Q