BSOM046 : Managing Operations and the Supply Chain

CIRCULAR ECONOMY
PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY
By
Professor
Name of the University
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CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Table of Contents
Cover page.....................................................................................................1
Table of Contents.............................................................................................2
Background Information about Alteo Mauritius......................................................3
Introduction to the Circular Economy...................................................................4
Characteristics of Circular Economy....................................................................5
Drivers of the Circular Economy........................................................................6
Importance of the Circular Economy...................................................................7
The role of circular supply chains in supporting restorative processes advocated by the
circular economy............................................................................................8
Alteo Mauritius Operations and Supply Chain based on Circular Economy...................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................12
References...................................................................................................13
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CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Background Information about Alteo Mauritius
Alteo Limited is a sugar milling company which is situated in Mauritius. The company’s vision
is to be a sustainable regional leader in the sugarcane industry, renewable energy and property.
Its vision on the other hand is to responsibly create value through people development, strategic
partnerships, innovative thinking, market focus and operational excellence. The company has
several values including respect (being considerate of each other's feelings and views), integrity,
spirit of entrepreneurship (triggers the ability to conceive ideas with a fresh outlook and generate
bold and brilliant projects that will enhance development), and excellence (pushing further
relentlessly).
The company’s products and services include production of sugar, electricity and molasses from
sugarcane, and conducting Corporate Social Responsibility programs aimed at benefitting the
community in which the company operates. Consumers of the company products include locals
in Mauritius while some are exported to the European Union.
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CIRCULAR ECONOMY
INTRODUCTION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The Concept of Circular Economy
A circular economy is a type of regenerative system where material input, emitted wastes
and energy leakages are all minimized by way of closing and reducing energy and material
loops. This can be accomplished by use of long-lasting designs, proper maintenance and repair,
reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishment, recycling and upcycling (Murray, Skene, and Haynes,
2017, 369-380).
It is argued that for a sustainable world to be achieved, it does not require changes in the
quality of consumers’ lives or loss of revenue and other extra costs on the part of manufacturers
and other agents of the economy. It is argued that circular business models can also be profitable
just like linear business models and still consumers the opportunity to enjoy similar products and
services like those produced in linear models. Circular economy’s focus is on such areas as
design thinking, extension of product life, systems thinking and recycling (Yuan, Bi, and
Moriguichi, 2006, 4-8).
A circular economy model aims at moving away from practices in the linear business
model which is characterized by the “take, make, dispose” industrial processes. The lifestyles
which depend on such industrial processes deplete limited resources in the creation of products
that end up being buried under the earth or in furnaces which burn refuse. This reality triggered a
number of scientists to think about how this norm can be changed (Su, 2013, 215-227).
A circular economy model distinguishes between biological cycles. In biological cycle,
there is consumption; where food and other biologically-based materials like wood are meant to
feed back into the economic system through such processes as decomposition and aerobic
digestion. The cycles then regenerate living systems, for example, soil which provides renewable
resources in the economy. Technical cycles on the other hand are concerned with the recovery
and restoration of products, components and materials by application of strategies such as reuse,
repair, remanufacture or recycling (usually the last resort) (Lieder, and Rashid, 2016, 36-51).
The concept of circular economy is deep historically and philosophically. The idea of
feeding back which is present in cycles in the real-world systems begun long ago and has its
origins in various schools of philosophy.
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