Business case

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Reduced use and withdrawal of water and rate of recycling and reuse of water

Save Water (SDG6)

Societal Services

Collecting waste from households and businesses by means of refuse bins, wheeled bins, containers, etc., and providing treatment, incineration, materials recovery and reclamation, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste

Waste Management

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

Impacts

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Industries

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The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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          Evove Water Stewardship UK    Piloting Partner : Coca Cola Program Cohort: 4    Transform membranes (key to circularity of liquids) with graphene coatings and 3D-printed enhancements to filter the unfilterable and separate the inseparable.   Founders              Chris Wyres   
           Tom Pugh   
           Andrew Walker   
       Corporate partners                

 At Evove™, we envisage a day when precision membrane technology underpins circular economies by recycling water locally, harvesting valuable resources, cleaning up the environment and drastically cutting the carbon footprint of transporting, treating and disposing of fluids.
Our transformational Enhance and Separonics™ product lines take membranes to the next level, overcoming the inherent flaws in conventional architectures. No longer do random pore sizes and distribution cause frequent foul-ups, hindering a high flux rate and necessitating constant backwashing. No longer are membrane systems troublesome, energy greedy or take masses of space. 

United Kingdom

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Evove

<p>Evove is an innovative company that specializes in precision membrane technology (key to circularity of liquids) with graphene coatings and 3D-printed enhancements for water treatment and separation processes. Their goal is to revolutionize circular economies by locally recycling water, harvesting valuable resources, and reducing the carbon footprint associated with fluid transportation, treatment, and disposal. Evove's Separonics™ product lines offer advanced membranes that overcome common flaws found in conventional architectures. These membranes enhance flux rates, minimize fouling, and optimize energy efficiency. By leveraging additive manufacturing and expertise in membrane design, Evove aims to transform the water industry, increase water productivity, and reduce global supply dependence for precious minerals. Their innovative solutions contribute to addressing climate change, water scarcity, and sustainability goals outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With a focus on advanced materials, engineering, digitalization, and artificial intelligence (AI), Evove is paving the way for a more sustainable and balanced future in water management.</p>