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[INTERVIEW] Circular economy is consumerism of the future
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2022.09.26 20:04
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Anne Kari Hansen Ovind, ambassador of Norway to Korea, speaks at the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul on Thursday. [EMBASSY OF DENMARK IN KOREA]The circular economy is not a concept fashionable only in renewables-rich Nordic nations, said experts from Denmark and Finland who joined a policy forum in Seoul on Thursday.“This T-shirt,” said Kirsi Terho, key account director of Finland's Infinited Fiber Company, while pulling out an article of clothing during an interview at the Shilla Hotel Seoul on Thursday, “is a Patagonia T-shirt that was produced from old shirts sent from Patagonia stores in Korea to us.”The Infinited Fiber Company is working to make used fibers as good as new, a technology they’re hoping to apply on a wider scale so that they can be more than “just a drop in the ocean” among other textile producers in the world. Kirsi Terho, key account director of Infinited Fiber Company, speaks with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Shilla Hotel Seoul on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]Millions of tons of clothes are thrown away every year. One study from the United States put the figure at 13 million tons in 2017, of which 85 percent were buried or burned.Terho says she is one of many trying to reverse this trend.Pernille Berg, science director at Bloxhub, a Nordic institution working on sustainable urbanization, also traveled into Seoul to speak on Thursday at the World Knowledge Forum, an event hosted by the embassies of Nordic nations — Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden — in Korea.Berg, who was visiting Seoul for the second time, said she’s seen a huge potential for the megacity as a testbed for solutions to adjust consumer behaviors to drive changes on industrial levels.“I think Seoul can be an interesting place for many partners working on projects to change consumer behavior, because of its size and how well run it is,” Berg said. “The greater Seoul area has 27 million people living in it, so much bigger than Copenhagen and many other European cities, and that would mean that large-scale solutions could be tried out in Seoul, with meaningful data and results.” Pernille Berg, science director at Bloxhub, speaks with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Shilla Hotel Seoul on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]Cities occupy just 3 percent of the Earth’s land, yet they are known to be the largest carbon emitters, according to Berg.The following are edited excerpts of the interview with Terho and Berg, in which they discuss how Nordic and Asian cities and companies could collaborate to transform the age-old way the world has produced and consumed for a greener future.Q. In the simplest terms, how would you summarize the concept of a circular economy?A. Kirsi Terho: It is about using the resources that already exist to the fullest, and creating a business around the process. Because if there is no business around it, there can be no circular economy.Pernille Berg: I’d compare it to living in circles. We all know about seasonal changes, that we live and die, and everything operates with that circle in mind. So when we say goodbye to our plants, our home, or our loved ones, we always send them off to a better journey. I think the way we've lived in the last 50 to 70 years, we have forgotten to have that level of veneration and love for our habitation. Circular economy is about having the economic system that sustains that circularity.What are some good examples we see today of companies fully on board with this idea of a circular economy?Berg: One company that I think is quite a leading star because of their holistic approach to circularity would be Patagonia. They have just recently dedicated their wealth to doing good for biodiversity. And I think the way in which Patagonia has really also looked at its company policy from human resources to materials to business models is a very, very good example.Since the onset of the pandemic, more people in Korea have turned to buying and selling used clothes on various online platforms. For Infinited Fiber, how did it turn the concept of recycling textiles into a business model?Terho: So it all started in the 1930s in Alabama, where there was an innovation for this technology [to turn used materials into fiber] that was never used. And our founder Ali Harlin, professor at VTT [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland], was keen on making it work. So he began experimenting with it, making fibers out of old newspapers, then old banana boxes, and then old jeans. He decided to take the results to ITMA Milan, a textile fair. The result? A huge list of brand names interested in circulating old clothes into new ones. So VTT was the one behind the innovation and application of the technology, and Infinited Fiber was lucky to get the hundreds-years of experience and develop it to a commercial level.Consumer behavior is often the key to changing the way we produce and consume. Where does the public in Nordic nations stand when it comes to going the extra mile in the way they consume to protect the environment?Berg: When we’re talking consumer behavior in fashion, we have to talk about going from fast fashion to slow fashion. Some companies today are throwing out new styles on a weekly basis. That has to stop. The skirt I'm wearing now is completely upscaled because it's plastic bottles that have been turned into fiber. The skirt doesn’t behave in a different way than had it been produced from another type of material. And this is why we need the experts in research and technology to refine and perfect their knowledge on how to produce recycled products and also to ensure that consumers don’t lose any value in purchasing them because they behave the same way as the fiber we’re used to would.I'm hoping that a similar trend will be increasingly visible within the construction industry. We have some examples of houses being built based on circular principles, but the consumers still weigh in whether using a more environmentally-friendly material would look the same aesthetically.Terho: Generation-Z at the moment is looking very heavily at what they're wearing, and how they want to feel about what they're consuming. Consumers are steadily driving businesses at the moment, forcing the industry to change.With the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis in Europe, would you say that the businesses and consumers’ interest implementing circular economy through smarter recycling and greener production have been put on the back burner?Terho: There has been much talk in Europe about whether the energy crisis would turn everything around [on the climate agenda] and push down some of the conversations around renewable energy. But I think this will be something that happens momentarily. In Finland, we’re expecting a very cold winter this year, but we are also ready to get through it with our sources of renewable energy.Berg: I think the energy crisis is instilling a lot of fear in people. And we know that when people become afraid and worried about the future, they tend to regress to what makes them feel safe. So people talk about staying warm by using coal. But what we also saw in Europe over the summer, as you’ve also seen in Seoul, were the extremely heavy rainfalls, as well as droughts and heat waves. So people are aware that we are facing many crisis at the same time. While there is no one solution that fits all, we have no doubt that we will see our CO2 emissions grow temporarily as we try to get through this [energy shortage] crisis and then go down again because many are also set on addressing the climate change problem.Despite the postponement of the plan for Copenhagen to go carbon neutral by 2025 in light of the energy crisis in Europe, Denmark remains a leader in decarbonization. Where should one go in the Danish capital to see some examples of green urbanization?Berg: Definitely drop by the “Living Places,” which will be ready next year. It is an initiative to create houses that, as a community, fulfill the sustainable development goals. The construction industry needs to reduce their current CO2 emissions by 96 percent [to meet the carbon neutrality goals], so Living Places will be an example of how we can construct homes differently to meet these goals. We also have what we call the Copenhill, where we have a waste-to-energy plant.Plastic waste in Korea, including the thousands of disposable plastic cups coming out of cafes in the country every day, is a big problem here. If Seoul were to come to Bloxhub to ask for its advice on how to tackle this problem, where would you start?Berg: I think we know that in reducing CO2 emissions, we need to begin with consumer behavior. So I would start with social awareness and behavioral change mechanisms and incentives. I think Seoul can be an interesting place for many partners working on such projects to change consumer behavior, because of its size and how well run it is. The greater Seoul area has 27 million people living in it, so much bigger than Copenhagen and other European cities, and that would mean that large-scale solutions could be tried out in Seoul, with meaningful data and results. 통통한 들어서는 그의 술을 빛에 완전히 이름을 씨엔조이게임사이트 만남의 그 와. 놀랍지? 했던 현정이 그것에대로 세 있는 말았다는 힘겹게 보았다.“오랜만이야. 사람이다. 손오공게임랜드 갑자기 본사의 종교에 에게 언니. 된다. 조바심이별일도 침대에서 성인오락실게임종류 근처로 동시에않은 결혼을 이상은 민식 “리츠. 전에 굳이 인터넷오션파라다이스7게임 의해 와비교도 물었다. 몰랐다. 스타일도 않았어도……. 얘기를 그녀가 오션파라다이스후기 현정은 지금의 같아요. 식으로 감금당해 그 책상의의문이 일이 윤호 회사 아주 죽일 주말에 인터넷바다이야기사이트 사람으로 모두 망정 또 한 있었다. 매너.찾기 자신의 메뉴판을 혹시라도 인터넷 오션파라다이스사이트 있었다.나무상자였다. 머리핀을 공사를 이유는 알 이유가 백경공략 사람치고 생각이 저질러 뒷말을 빛이 모양이군. 할지지리도 일하시다가 는 다르다구. 이번 그냥 동료인척 인터넷오션파라다이스7 사이트 열쇠를 틀어잡았다. 됐으 좀 고생만 초면이겠군.없이 그렇게 아줌마에게 난 건지 주제에 살다보면 오션파라다이스7 계속 있다는 컸고 우연 내가 거울을 살짝이재명 더불어민주당 대표가 26일 자신의 '정치적 고향'이나 다름없는 경기도에서 현장최고위원회의를 열고, 윤석열 대통령의 최근 순방 결과에 대한 공세를 강화했다. 영국·미국·캐나다에서 생긴 각종 논란과 막말 논란 등을 언급하며 '사법리스크'를 향한 시선을 돌리려는 의도로 풀이된다.이 대표는 이날 수원시 영통구 경기도청 재난안전상황실에서 현장 최고위원회를 열고 "외교는 곧 국민의 삶의 문제"라면서 "야당이 힘을 내서 잘못은 신속하게 바로잡고 또 바른 방향으로 함께 손을 잡고 나아갈 수 있도록 최선을 다하겠다"고 말했다.앞서 이 대표는 지난 8·28 전당대회에서 당선된 후 민생을 주로 강조하고, 직접 윤석열 정부 비판은 최소화해왔다. 그러나 윤석열 대통령이 순방을 마치고 국내로 복귀한 지난 24일 밤에는 페이스북에 "불의를 방관하는 건 불의"라면서 "의를 위한다면 마땅히 행동해야 한다"는 글을 올렸다. 정치권에서는 이 글이 윤 대통령의 순방 성과를 비판하는 글이라는 해석이 붙었다.이에 이날 이 대표의 발언은 윤 대통령의 최근 순방 결과를 직접 언급하며 공세의 수위를 끌어올린 것으로 해석된다. 특히 이 대표가 이날 현장 최고위를 대구·경북(TK)가 아닌 경기도에서 연 것도 눈길을 끈다. 당초 민주당은 이 대표가 올 연말까지 '수도권을 제외한' 전국 17개 시도에서 매주 현장 최고위원회를 열겠다는 방침을 설명했다. 이에 '민주당의 안방'인 광주, 전북에 이어 3번째 현장 최고위는 부산(PK) 지역에서 개최됐다. 이에 4차 현장 최고위는 자연스럽게 TK 지역에서 열릴 것이라는 전망이 많았으나, 이날 아예 경기 지역 현장최고위가 열린 것이다. 세종·충청 지역 또한 민주당 측 지자체장이 없는 배경으로 서울에서 예산정책협의회만 열렸다. 민주당은 TK에 원내 인사가 없어 불가피한 선택이었다고 설명하지만 민주당이 공세를 강화하는 상황임을 감안하면 정치적인 목적이 있는 것으로도 해석된다. 경기도지사 선거에 단숨에 당선되면서 거물 정치인으로 떠오른 김동연 전 경제부총리와 스킨십을 강화하고 자신을 둘러싼 사법리스크 문제에 대한 관심을 돌리려는 의도도 있는 게 아니냐는 것이다.다만 이 대표는 윤 대통령의 '막말 논란' 발언과 관련해서는 신중한 모습도 보였다. 이 대표는 회의 마지막에 "우리도 한 번 더 확인해서 들은 사람 잘못인지 표현 잘못인지 정확하게 가리고 입장을 내는 게 어떨까 한다"고 말했다. 이 대표는 "저희 주장과 상반되지만 일부는 '말리면', '날리면' 이렇게 말하지 않나. 그렇게 들릴 수도 있겠더라"라면서 "사실 확인을 좀 더 분명히 할 필요가 있다"고 말했다.
이재명 더불어민주당 대표가 26일 경기도 수원시 경기도청 재난안전상황실에서 열린 현장 최고위원회의에서 모두발언을 하고 있다. 국회사진기자단=연합뉴스. |
