The Horse 2021/22

Delftx - CircularX

Our course Circular Economy: An Introduction is now open! We have run this MOOC since 2015 with over 43,000 participants, and are really looking forward to sharing this experience with you.

We have included some of the latest research on the Circular Economy, and interviewed scientists to discuss questions such as:

• What does it take to set up a circular business?
• Are our products really designed to break prematurely?
• Are consumers to blame for the 'fast fashion' trend, or is there a more subtle story to be told?More...

>To the video "Build a Waste Free World (documentarymania.org)More...

Der Kreislauf des Lebens (arte.tv, in German, accessible until 28/06/2025)

The Gaia Hypothesis More...

Embodied Energy

In today's world, we try to reuse as many as possible, but this consumes large amounts of energy, which is not very good for the environment.

Embodied energy is energy that is created when we try to recycle certain things. So, for example, if a company wants to make pet bottles reusable, it needs machines for that, which also use electricity and energy, which are not very good for our environment.
Of course, they emit less Co2 than the recycled product, but isn't there another, more environmentally friendly solution?

Quizquestion

Name 2 things that use a lot of energy to recycle

1.

2.

Technical Terms

• Embodied Energy = Energie, welche beim recyceln von Material entsteht
• reusable = Wiederverwendbar, wiedergebrauchbar
• environment = Umwelt

Nicola & Simon

"The new iPhone has been released, I no longer need my old one!"

This days, too many goods are simply thrown away, even though they are still in perfect condition. Just because it's no longer the latest thing, people don't want it and don't consider the ecological consequences. This is called a linear economy. Raw materials are mined/collected/produced, a product is made from it, then it is packaged, sold, used and finally ends up in the rubbish.

The idea of a circular economy is becoming more and more lucrative. The idea is to reuse existing products and not simply dispose of them. For example, with maintenance, repairs or recycling.

The figure below shows the linear economy (red) and the goal of the circular economy (green).

Vocabulary:

circular economy -> Kreislaufwirtschaft
recycle -> rezyklieren
remanufacture -> wiederherstellen
refurbish -> restaurieren
redistribute -> umverteilen
reuse -> wiederverwenden
maintain -> instand halten
discard -> wegwerfen
landfill -> Deponie

Eco Design has a lot to do with this topic also look at that post :)

Kreislaufwirtschaft 

"Das neue iPhone wurde released, mein altes benötige ich nicht mehr!"  

In der heutigen Zeit werden noch zu viele Güter einfach weggeworfen, obwohl sie noch einwandfrei sind. Nur weil es nicht mehr das Neuste ist will man es nicht mehr und beachtet die ökologischen Folgen nicht. Dies nennt man Lineare Wirtschaft. Rohstoffe werden abgebaut/gesammelt/erstellt, daraus fabriziert man ein Produkt, anschliessend wird es verpackt, verkauft, benutzt und landet zum Schluss im Müll.  

Die Idee von einer Kreislaufwirtschaft wird immer lukrativer. Die Idee ist, die bereits bestehenden Produkte wiederzuverwenden und nicht einfach zu entsorgen. Zum Beispiel mit Instandhaltung, Reparaturen oder Rezyklieren. 

Die Obige Abbildung zeigt die Linearwirtschaft (rot) und das Ziel der Kreislaufwirtschaft (grün).  

Teaser:

Like any product, an eco-design product has to be attractive in order to be manufactured and appeal to consumers. Designers therefore need to meet a variety of requierements. 

Quiz: What products do you think are made to last very long? (Answer in the comments)

Vocabulary: ...

Teamwork: With Florian

Resources such as minerals are getting degraded and depleted by us very quick. What can we do against it? The things we throw away still can be used.

Solutions:
Recycle: Make out of your old products new ones!
Remanufacturing: To refurbish your products is better than manufacturing something new!
Redistribute: Reuse those products that are in a usable condition!
Maintain: With a good maintenance you can extend the life of your products! 

Quiz question:
1. What do you do with a car that has broken brakes?
a) throw it away
b) recycle
c) maintain

2. What should you do with a ripped shirt?
a) remanufacure
b) throw it away
c) throw it in the ocean

Vocabulary:
depleted - aufgebraucht
degraded - degradieren (herabwürdigen)

hazardous waste landfill

Team: Sarina und Jasmin Schmid

Teaser: In a hazardous waste landfill are products gone to, which are dangerous for our health and the environment. The hazardous waste landfills have to be particularly guarded, because it is really delicate to store these special materials. This process is very bad for nature, because toxic substances can get in touch with the ground water.

Question: Why are hazardous waste landfills dangerous?

Vocabulary:
hazardous waste = Sondermüll
landfill = Deponie
guarded = bewacht
ground water = Grundwasser
solvent = Lösungsmittel

Our topic is about transport. There are many ways of transport. The most important one is the transport by sea, it covers up almost 50% of crude oil and 80% of global merchandise. As a result there are also many problems such as pollutants and noise.

How can you get rid of these problems and are they opportunities to improve transport overall to make it more eco-friendly?