Green ideas are in the black: Experts discuss alternatives to the recycling lie and greenwashing at the invitation of Charlotte Fresenius Private University. People’s changing values and new sense of happiness are the basis for sustainable consumption decisions.
Circular economy is one of the cornerstones of the European Union’s sustainability strategies. Whether this is just a hope or a realistic opportunity that will sustainably change people’s behavior was discussed by Reinhard Backhausen (Textile & Circular Consulting), Axel Dick (Quality Austria), Petra Engeler-Walch (Maco), Luise Fischer (Sustainable Cities), Karin Huber-Haim (Circular Economy Forum Austria) and founding rector Martin Kreeb (Charlotte Fresenius Private University Vienna) at the invitation of Charlotte Fresenius Private University Vienna with founding chancellor Bernhard Sams on Tuesday evening at Impact Hub Vienna. Documentaries such as “The Recycling Lie” by Norddeutscher Rundfunk get the discussion going and show how much greenwashing dominates the sustainability commitment of large companies. A background to this: recycling is often more cost-intensive than new production. One consequence: 92 billion tons of waste will increase to 162 billion tons in 2060, while a maximum of 50 billion tons would be manageable. Currently, the Austrian material footprint is 33 tons per year. To achieve the European Union’s sustainability goals, this must be reduced to five percent.
Party of the throwaway society
“In recent decades, we have celebrated the great party of the throwaway society with cheap products,” Sams sums up. “The differentiation between having and being precedes the end of the consumer mania. The socialization of the future demands new status symbols in social consensus.”
He warns against preaching renunciation, but recognizes a schizophrenia of the present by the advertising industry, which projects traditional images of happiness and prosperity. Kreeb also speaks out against the Buddhist renunciation economy and suggests a fundamental change in values. The paradigm shift must be triggered among consumers, who ultimately make the purchasing decision.
“We have to move from overexploitation to the bioeconomy and take a cue from nature’s processes,” Kreeb affirms, adding, “The pain is not yet great enough for compensation consumption to give way to the happiness economy.”
Recycling is expensive
“Circular economy is more than recycling. It is the last cycle that should be considered because it uses the most energy. The current linear system from production to waste must be broken. At the beginning, there is the question of whether the material product is needed at all,” Huber-Haim says.
The path to a circular society must be taken by consumers in order to shape the conditions for the circular economy. Laws from Brussels will not create enthusiasm among the people and will not pick them up emotionally.
She is in favor of completely new business models, such as the sharing economy, which offer as many people as possible access to added value and thus make better use of resources.
Psychological effect
“The introduction of the circular economy requires a radical transformation of the entire economic and value system,” Dick is convinced. “The luxury question is no longer whether we can afford environmental protection, but whether we will be able to live without it. We are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis. The system is about to tip over unless psychological effects change society’s mindset.”
Products need to be made single-origin to make them reusable. Mixtures and impurities such as those processed in the textile industry and especially fast fashion can hardly be reprocessed, Backhausen knows. The mountains of textiles in Africa are created by the return mentality of consumers.
“Trade and industry must cooperate for the turnaround to succeed,” Backhausen says. “Politicians have a duty, but the design must be driven from within the economy.”
Resources must be kept in Europe and circulate on the continent. However, Europe itself will not be able to solve the global problem, but it can lead the way through innovation and motivate large economies such as China or the United States.
Sustainability is economical: Domino effect boosts profit
At the family-run Austrian hardware manufacturer Maco, the transformation process led by Engeler-Walch has long since begun in the operational processes in order to develop long-term strategies from them. The resulting innovation has a positive effect on the quality of the product and also allows higher prices on the market.
“The drive for innovation in all areas of the company motivates the team, increases profitability and promotes the company’s positioning as an employer. We are experiencing a green domino effect in all areas,” Engeler-Walch reports from the field.
» Video of the event on Vimeo «
