Dame Ellen MacArthur: The Circular Economy

Key concepts:

• Solo sailing champion Dame Ellen MacArthur commits to change the world
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the New Circular Economy
• $2 Million Design Competition to keep plastics out of the ocean
• 2050 plastics industry estimated at 20% of all oil production
• most plastic = single use: 95% economic value, up to $120 billion annually = lost

On May 18, 2017 Dame Ellen MacArthur announced a $2 Million Plastic Innovation Prize to keep plastic out of our oceans, jointly sponsored by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation with the Prince of Wales’ Sustainability Unit and funded by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt.

The day after setting a world speed record in her solo sail around the world, Ellen MacArthur was named Dame Ellen MacArthur of the British Empire, the youngest person ever to be named to that title. She is still racing full speed around the world, no longer as a solo sailor but growing a collaborative intelligence network to keep plastic out of our oceans.

She founded the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2010 to support developing a “circular economy” that promotes renewable energy and waste reduction over the consumption of finite resources. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation works in Education & Training, Business & Government, Insight & Analysis, Systemic Initiatives and Communications to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The Foundation has prepared Circularity Indicators Toolkits and a series of publications for educators.

In her TED talk, she tells her story. The person with the courage to sail solo around the globe, set a world record, withstand a near collision with a whale, and the other risks of the open ocean, is also the person to take on a mammoth global challenge – her joint venture with The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit to launch a $2 million design competition to keep plastics out of the ocean, which we can trigger a wave of supporting activities.

The New Plastics Economy

The New Plastics Economy report also projected that by 2050 the plastics industry would consume 20% of all oil production. Because most plastic is used only once, 95% of its economic value, worth up to $120 billion annually, is lost.

The chart below visualizes the tradeoffs between resilience and efficiency and suggests that a range of tradeoffs could be visualized and studied in this way.

See the app @ earthDECKS.org
Saving Our Oceans from Plastic: articles by Zann Gill

• Adverse Health Effects of Plastic
• Aquaria – Informal Learning Network
• Beat the Microbead
• Bibliography: Plastic Roads
• Boyan Slat: Floater Technology for Ocean Cleanup
• Complex Systems Problems
• Cradle to Grave: Plastic Supply Chain
• Sylvia Earle: Learning for a Plastic World
• earthDECKS Limelights: Companies to Watch
• Enshrouded in Plastic
• Flamingos Signal the Future We Face
• Floating Trash: More than 4x as bad as we thought
• Give the World a Helping Hand: 3D Prostheses
• Global Ocean Sensing
• Industry Response to the Plastic Challenge
• Nature’s Innovators: plastic consumers
• Ocean Debris Network
• Ocean Ingenuity
• Oceans – Measuring Planet Health
• Plastic Bank – The Exchange Economy
• Plastic – Climate Change Connection: Israel & UBQ
• PLASTIC: Complex Systems Problem
• Plastic: Drinking Water, Table Salt & Mother’s Milk
• Plastic Footprint – Carbon Footprint
• Plastic-Eating Enzyme
• Plastic Gyres and Social Justice
• Plastic Impact Calculator
• Plastic Pollution Coalition: Campaign vs Single Use Plastic
• Plastic & Public Health: Endocrine Disruptors
• PLASTIC: Overview of National Leadership
• Plastic Roads – Global Innovation Ecosystem
• Plastic – The Circular Econnomy
• The Plasticene
• Plastiki: adventure stories & a big message
• Raising Awareness of Plastic Hazards