While the growth in electric cars is happening faster than we thought, truly meeting climate goals will take riding the momentum of another big transition — one to the circular economy. Leaning into these parallel shifts could spark a revolution in how cars are made and used.
A circular economy is an economic system that aims to eliminate waste throughout an entire value chain — including throughout manufacturing, production and use. Its value comes in preserving raw materials and eradicating waste altogether. By contrast, our current “linear economy” transforms raw materials into products that are made, used and disposed of, finding value in producing and selling as many goods as possible.
Embracing the circular economy has become even more critical since COVID-19 has hit economies hard, putting pressure on consumers and manufacturers and driving home the need to be watchful of resources. In fact, one recent survey of supply chain professionals found that 51 percent expect the focus on circular economy strategies to increase over the next two years. Those surveyed from large companies (with revenues of more than $25 billion or more) had more optimism for this growth in the circular economy than mid-size organizations, perhaps signaling the opportunity for organizations with both resources and appetite for risk.
Transitioning away from the “linear economy” means systems-wide changes, including decarbonizing production and designing products for recyclability at “end of life.” For the automobile industry, it means achieving transformation at the scale of Henry Ford’s legendary assembly line, or Toyota’s famous “Just In Time” production system, one that timed manufacturing to dealer orders to minimize parts inventory.
Through what might be called a ‘green industry’ agenda, the global economy can maintain standards of living and offer mobility means to serve the expected doubling of the global passenger demand by 2050.
Since its inception, the automotive industry has led both process revolutions and technological innovation. As the industry adopts the technologies of tomorrow, it is poised once again to create a template for the global economy to reference and follow.
The Circular Cars Initiative (CCI) embodies this ambition for the auto industry. It represents a coalition of more than 60 automakers, suppliers, research institutions, NGOs and international organizations committed to realizing this near-term ambition. A new series of circularity “roadmaps,” developed in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), McKinsey & Co. and Accenture Strategy, explain the specifics of this transition.
The CCI, and its 60 partners, developed three framework reports to help industry and regulators better understand this new, more sustainable future.
The first report, by the World Economic Forum with inputs from WBCSD and Systemiq, is titled “The Road Ahead: A policy research agenda for automotive circularity.” This work questions how current regulatory frameworks can support high circularity. The report makes an appeal for faster vehicle electrification, low carbon technology adoption, end-of-life management subsidies and incentives to support the industry transformation.
The second report, “Raising Ambitions: A new roadmap for the circular automotive economy,” is led by Accenture Strategy and proposes a comprehensive and future-looking framework for increasing both materials and use-phase efficiency in the automobile sector. This report, which will be published later in January, will examine innovative approaches to emerging business models for enabling high-quality recycling and second-life battery use.
The final roadmap, “Forging Ahead: A materials roadmap for the ‘zero-carbon car,'” also will publish this month and was developed in partnership with McKinsey & Co. The report is a detailed outlook on the costs and technology investments required to decarbonize automotive materials. This appeal to the industry to develop new technologies will help produce low carbon materials and forge the partnerships necessary to launch them at scale.
Collectively, these roadmaps lay the groundwork for what might be called a “green industry” agenda. At scale, this new model for industrialization can meet the climate imperative, the challenge to deliver goods and services and also dramatically reduce resources consumed and waste/emissions produced in the process.
Through this model, according to research by Accenture, the global economy can maintain standards of living and offer mobility means to serve the expected doubling of the global passenger demand by 2050. It also can reduce related natural resource consumption by up to 80 percent and carbon emissions per passenger by 75 percent.
CCI offers a platform to exchange and collectively investigate the technology and business models innovations that will help to make circularity the norm, faster. The platform draws the next frontier for the automotive industry and gathers its progressive leaders to find how carbon neutrality will make economic sense. New innovative business models around Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and data availability along the use phase will increase a lifecycle view and bring circularity into the mainstream.
Industry leaders are already investing in such a future. One example comes from CCI member company Renault. This fall, Renault announced the creation of the RE-Factory as it will convert its oldest assembly plant in Flins, near Paris, into a new industrial unit focused entirely on the circular economy, aiming to provide 3,000 jobs and a negative carbon footprint by 2030.
A circular future is not guaranteed for the auto industry. It depends on the rise of 3 simultaneous trends.
In the future, a significant share of private cars could be turned into autonomous taxis, where owners could rent their vehicles out during the day when they aren’t in use. Such a model would create a fleet of autonomous vehicles that potentially could provide the same number of passenger miles with 90 percent fewer cars. Each car would see an increase in use which could clear a path for closed-loop recycling programs (where vehicle components and materials are remanufactured, reused and recycled at the end of life). Automakers who invest in circular innovation can trim costs and complexity from the manufacturing process and increasingly see financial returns.
To be sure, a circular future is not guaranteed for the auto industry. It depends on the rise of three simultaneous trends: high vehicle use models (such as ride hailing, car sharing and MaaS); the conversion of the distribution and maintenance network into collection, re-manufacturing and recycling centers; and the adoption of modular designs and low carbon circular materials during vehicle design.
Still, companies that embrace this future will create more value more quickly. The cost associated with the sourcing of materials and parts will reduce drastically and are expected to largely cover the necessary investments in technology and business models that allow to close the loop. At the same time, the brands that will adopt this approach may be able to provide cheaper and more accessible means of transport to many and offer financially accessible jobs in the gig economy. Finally, the companies adopting this model will have better visibility to carbon neutrality, supporting compliance and reducing their impact on biodiversity.
With investments in the technologies that support MaaS models and low carbon approaches, collaboration and support to convert the existing network and a gradual move to modular designs and production methods, the automotive industry could align its purpose to a 1.5 degrees Celsius scenario in the coming decade.
VANCOUVER – Supervised injection sites are saving the lives of drug users everyday, but the same support is not being offered to people who inhale illicit drugs, the head of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS says.
Dr. Julio Montaner said the construction of Vancouver’s first indoor supervised site for people who inhale drugs comes as the percentage of people who die from smoking drugs continues to climb.
The location in the Downtown Eastside at the Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre was unveiled Wednesday after construction was complete, and Montaner said people could start using the specialized rooms in a matter of weeks after final approvals from the city and federal government.
“If we don’t create mechanisms for these individuals to be able to use safely and engage with the medical system, and generate points of entry into the medical system, we will never be able to solve the problem,” he said.
“Now, I’m not here to tell you that we will fix it tomorrow, but denying it or ignoring it, or throw it under the bus, or under the carpet is no way to fix it, so we need to take proactive action.”
Nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths in British Columbia in 2023 came after smoking illicit drugs, yet only 40 per cent of supervised consumption sites in the province offer a safe place to smoke, often outdoors, in a tent.
The centre has been running a supervised injection site for years which sees more than a thousand people monthly and last month resuscitated five people who were overdosing.
The new facilities offer indoor, individual, negative-pressure rooms that allow fresh air to circulate and can clear out smoke in 30 to 60 seconds while users are monitored by trained nurses.
Advocates calling for more supervised inhalation sites have previously said the rules for setting up sites are overly complicated at a time when the province is facing an overdose crisis.
More than 15,000 people have died of overdoses since the public health emergency was declared in B.C. in April 2016.
Kate Salters, a senior researcher at the centre, said they worked with mechanical and chemical engineers to make sure the site is up to code and abidies by the highest standard of occupational health and safety.
“This is just another tool in our tool box to make sure that we’re offering life-saving services to those who are using drugs,” she said.
Montaner acknowledged the process to get the site up and running took “an inordinate amount of time,” but said the centre worked hard to follow all regulations.
“We feel that doing this right, with appropriate scientific background, in a medically supervised environment, etc, etc, allows us to derive the data that ultimately will be sufficiently convincing for not just our leaders, but also the leaders across the country and across the world, to embrace the strategies that we are trying to develop.” he said.
Montaner said building the facility was possible thanks to a single $4-million donation from a longtime supporter.
Construction finished with less than a week before the launch of the next provincial election campaign and within a year of the next federal election.
Montaner said he is concerned about “some of the things that have been said publicly by some of the political leaders in the province and in the country.”
“We want to bring awareness to the people that this is a serious undertaking. This is a very massive investment, and we need to protect it for the benefit of people who are unfortunately drug dependent.” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
FREDERICTON – The six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick distributed a survey on Indigenous issues to political parties ahead of the provincial election, which is scheduled to kick off Thursday. Here are some of the answers from the Progressive Conservative, Liberal and Green parties.
Q: How does your party plan to demonstrate a renewed commitment to recognizing our joint treaty responsibilities and acknowledging that the lands and waters of this territory remain unceded?
Progressive Conservative: The party respectfully disagrees with the assertion that land title has been unceded. This is a legal question that has not been determined by the courts.
Liberal: When we form government, the first conversations the premier-designate will have is with First Nations leaders. We will publicly and explicitly acknowledge your treaty rights, and our joint responsibility as treaty people.
Green: The Green Party acknowledges that New Brunswick is situated on the unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq and Peskotomuhkati peoples, covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship. Our party is committed to establishing true nation-to-nation relationships with First Nations, grounded in mutual respect and co-operation as the treaties intended.
Q: How does your party propose to approach the issue of provincial tax agreements with First Nations?
Progressive Conservative: The government of New Brunswick operates in a balanced and fair manner with all organizations, institutions and local governments that represent the citizens of this province, including First Nations. Therefore, we cannot offer tax agreements that do not demonstrate a benefit to all citizens.
Liberal: Recent discussions with First Nations chiefs shed light on the gaps that existed in the previous provincial tax agreements with First Nations. Our party is committed to negotiating and establishing new tax agreements with First Nations that address the local needs and priorities and ensure all parties have a fair deal.
Green: The Green Party is committed to fostering a respectful relationship with First Nations in New Brunswick and strongly opposes Premier Blaine Higgs’s decision to end tax-sharing agreements. We believe reinstating these agreements is crucial for supporting the economic development and job creation in First Nation communities.
Q: How will your party ensure more meaningful participation of Indigenous communities in provincial land use and resource management decision-making?
Progressive Conservative: The government of New Brunswick has invested significant resources in developing a robust duty to consult and engagement process. We are interested in fully involving First Nations in the development of natural resources, including natural gas development. We believe that the development of natural gas is better for the environment — because it allows for the shutdown of coal-fired power plants all over the globe — and it allows for a meaningful step along the path to reconciliation.
Liberal: Our party is focused on building strong relations with First Nations and their representatives based on mutual respect and a nation-to-nation relationship, with a shared understanding of treaty obligations and a recognition of your rights. This includes having First Nations at the table and engaged on all files, including land-use and resource management.
Green: We will develop a new Crown lands management framework with First Nations, focusing on shared management that respects the Peace and Friendship Treaties. We will enhance consultation by developing parameters for meaningful consultation with First Nations that will include a dispute resolution mechanism, so the courts become the last resort, not the default in the face of disagreements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – A crew member of a Canadian Coast Guard ship has been lost at sea off southern Newfoundland.
The agency said in a release Wednesday that an extensive search and rescue effort for the man was ended Tuesday evening.
He was reported missing on Monday morning when the CCGS Vincent Massey arrived in St. John’s, N.L.
The coast guard says there was an “immediate” search on the vessel for the crew member and when he wasn’t located the sea and air search began.
Wednesday’s announcement said the agency was “devastated to confirm” the crew member had been lost at sea, adding that decisions to end searches are “never taken lightly.”
The coast guard says the employee was last seen on board Sunday evening as the vessel sailed along the northeast coast of Newfoundland.
Spokeswoman Kariane Charron says no other details are being provided at this time and that the RCMP will be investigating the matter as a missing person case.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
