Circular Economy and Green Growth

At Blake-Envelopes we have always been passionate about responsible practices and innovative ideas. We have the wellbeing of people and our planet at the heart of what we do. The International Conference on Circular Economy and Green Growth brings together leading voices on the circular processes and sustainable practices. As 2021 is a landmark year for sustainable practices, with the circular economy continuing to gain traction, we thought it was important to highlight this event and talk about why it is important to us.  

Firstly, what do we mean by circular processes? The Ellen MacArther Foundation are a leading voice on this innovative idea. They state that “a circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.” Key to the notion of circular is stopping waste being created rather than simply cleaning up the mess at the end. This is tied to the connecting issue of green growth. This outlines how we need to make decisions which consider our current needs but also ensure that we consume responsibly to protect those resources for future generations. We also need to put the planet first given the rising threat of climate change and ecological destruction already being caused. This is all about finding ways to re-invent, re-think and re-define traditional business as usual practices. 

Photo by Frank Vessia on Unsplash

Put simply the purpose of the circular economy is to eliminate the way we engage with take, make and waste process. Paying more attention to the resources we use and how we could actively change our habits to minimise these.

Significantly, the circular economy aims to highlight the negative consequences of how we continue to take resources, make products and throw them away. Instead, the circular economy is all about making positive choices for ourselves and our planet. These are defined as reducing, reusing and recycling. These are practices that we can all personally engage with, however, they need to be done at national and global levels for systemic change to be possible.

The good news is that we all have a part to play.

At Blake our Solutions team have identified packaging as a key area where circular practices are possible and green growth is essential. It is now more important than ever for businesses to eliminate single use plastic and switch to circular products such as paper. This means putting effort into minimising the waste produced, highlighting the carbon footprint of these products and keeping up to date with the latest technology trends. Key to this is using products which work with natural systems and actively support our ecosystems. We have championed paper as a material that is fully recyclable, used to create other paper-based products, and one which, if selected from sustainable forest sources, strengthens our forest ecosystems across the globe. Check out this article by our friends at Two Sides for more information about paper and paper processes here.  

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

We are excited to continue to find new ways to engage with circular practices. We'd love to hear your best tip for reducing, reusing or recycling packaging!