Reuse & Recycling
Reuse and recycling is as old as civilization itself. It was the industrial revolution and the ensuing, and still enduring, era of mass production and consumption that made them unfashionable. Like a piece of vintage clothing at the bottom of a trunk, reuse and recycling keep being rediscovered at regular intervals. First in the 80s, as a response to a fear of running out of landfill space. Then again in the 90s, with the emerging concept of industrial ecology. In fact, reuse and recycling lie at the heart of the industrial ecology metaphor. The very notion of the industrial ecosystem is motivated by the idea that we should learn from natural ecosystems how to “close the loop.” Most recently, reuse and recycling has been reborn as the ‘circular economy’. While the concepts are old, the study of reuse and recycling are plagued by misconceptions and lack or rigor. We are working hard to dispel the former and add the latter.