Orbiting Non-Circularity
In which the ISS provides an object lesson
Here is a spectacular example of non-circular economy. A linear economic process, recall, takes resources from the earth, manufactures something, sells it to customers who use it for the duration of its lifecycle, then relegates all parts and pieces to waste. At best, instead of pure waste, the item is subjected to a bit of recycling or — really the best we can do at this point — to refurbishment and a secondary resellers market. A circular economic process does not do this. Resources are near-fully recycled back into the system so that new resource extraction is minimized and there is little or no waste.
The trick to shifting from linear to circular economy is design on the front end. A product needs to be designed in the first place to be deconstructed or disassembled after use and its component resources returned into the system.
The economic process itself also (not just products) requires equally thoughtful design, so that consumers have a way to return what they’re done using, and manufacturers can turn the corner.
What kind of havoc such process re-design will wreak on our current capitalist system — or rather, on current players in that system, given their sunk costs and investments — is worth considerable TEA (time, energy, attention). It’s not capitalism, or even consumerism per se that is the problem. It’s the sheer linearity of the thing.
Without further ado, here’s our object lesson for today.
NASA May Pay $1 Billion to Destroy the International Space Station. Here's Why | Scientific American
The money quote:
Theoretically, NASA and its collaborators could raise the ISS to an orbit at which it would leave Earth’s atmosphere entirely. But lofting so much mass so high would be extremely expensive. And even if the station were to be abandoned in such a “graveyard orbit,” the ISS would still pose hazards: because it is so old and unwieldy, its eventual disintegration would be inevitable and would generate enormous amounts of debris that could damage other satellites.
“You don’t want to leave it in orbit,” says Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, who also monitors satellites in orbit. “It’s very nice to think of it as a museum, but it’s going to deteriorate and break up.” Deconstructing the ISS is also unfeasible, Nield says, because it wasn’t designed for disassembly—and any ad hoc attempt to do so would face dire risks from aging components that have spent more than two decades exposed to the extreme environment of space. (my emphasis)
You can read more about the ISS from the source at NASA.
My first time learning about circular economy was through the book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by McDonough, William. Recommended.
Luckily the used book trade is one of the healthiest circular economies in existence. Get your used copy for about $5 including shipping. Or buy the e-book.
As you go through your day today, consider how many things you buy — perhaps especially during this holiday season — will end up in the trash. Aim to do a bit better this year. 🙏🏼