The Scale Of Change Has Just Got Bigger
The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated a series of shifts in how its citizens work and play and Wellington’s emerging economic future. As Wellington looks to continue to respond to the economic, health and environmental realities of COVID-19, the future has never been more uncertain or the decisions required to shape it, more urgent.
A Vision Of The Future Could Be
A post COVID-19 City that positions Wellington as a leading GDP contributor to the New Zealand economy the fabric for a prosperous capital city. This vision will reset the narrative, change mindsets, inspire action.
2020 has seen the change in ability and policy to work from home due to COVID-19 and after lockdown many have continued to do so.
Straight to Circular
The economy is becoming more circular, more environmentally conscious and seeking to account for carbon and eliminate waste.
As our trading partners embrace this and our customers actively prefer circular economies this will challenge the city, companies and Government to adapt and lead. As circularity enters the service economy it may also change the types of infrastructure needed to knit together communities and ensure inclusion.
SHIFT: Straight to Circular
Summary
The economy is becoming more circular, more environmentally conscious and seeking to account for carbon and eliminate waste.
At the same time our trading partners embrace, and customers actively prefer circular economies cities, companies and government will be challenged to adapt and lead. As circularity enters the service economy, it may also change the types of infrastructure needed to knit together communities and ensure inclusion.
As our economy grows more circular so too will our education requiring lifelong learning and institutional structures which support a continuous and adaptive exploration of ideas.
Drivers:
Digital Transformation – Technology is providing more transparency and options for circularity driving both public awareness and investment pathways towards a circular economy.
Ethics and Public Awareness – people are recognising the impact of their lifestyles and choices on the climate and environment and modifying their behaviour and demanding political action.
Future of Work – Talented people are increasingly attracted to companies and places which offer strong green credentials and the ability to contribute to a purpose driven career.
COVID19
COVID19 has created a pause in the Global Economy and the busy lives lived within it which has given both a moment of reflection, and a glimpse of what a lower impact way of living might mean for the Planet.
During 2019 the effects of climate change become more noticeable, with record setting heatwaves and bushfires in Australia, the Amazon, Europe and North America, the effects of which were enough to turn the snow falling on New Zealand’s mountains pink, and for the smell of smoke and haze to wreath our islands. With lockdowns many of these effects seemed to pause- the air quality of India improved to the point that the Himalaya were visible from the Gangetic Plain for the first time in a generation, city air quality was improved beyond recognition and in the absence of noise and pollution nature began to become more noticeable in its reclamation of urban environments.
This consciousness was also provoked by the return of more disposable items in response to COVID19, particularly single use masks, coffee cups and other disposable containers/ sanitation products. The time and consciousness given by lockdown experiences has led to the acceleration in the adoption of more ethical consumer practices, and the rise of the idea of a more circular economy.
Sightings:
Global
The European Union has announced the Green Deal which has the aim of making the continent carbon neutral by 2050 and 1 Billion Euro of funding for research and innovation to help achieve the deals cornerstone- a circular economy.
London sharing platform Fat Lama connects people who have stuff that isn’t needed all the time, with people who need stuff for a while – this incentivises quality purchases and shrinks the need to buy more cheap items for limited uses.
Phoenix’s Clean Palm Programme takes trimmings from the city’s palm trees and creates a nutritious silage feed from them- taking a difficult to dispose of waste stream and converting it into a food source for livestock.
Bilbao Group is scaling regenerative farming practices to grow sugar sustainably, harvest and process it ethically and produce electric power from the trimmings.
National
Auckland District Health Board has partnered with Baxter Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson to recycle PVC fluid bags, aluminium bottles and single use instruments. In a perfect circular economy world these resources would be cycled back into products of the same value or utility.
This is what happens with the estimated 3,000 aluminium gas bottles in this scheme. Plastics can be harder to find a home for, especially in New Zealand so the scheme has found a way to use 10,000kg of PVC for playground mats.
Wellington
Plastics are also the focus of the circular economy efforts of Flight Plastics in Wellington. The company has invested in the latest European technology to create the country’s first and only PET plastic washplant. This takes PET bottles and containers recycled at kerbside and turns them into new food packaging. The company has already purchased more than 1.8 million kilograms of waste plastic in New Zealand. The plant is capable of processing 6-8 million kilograms a year. That’s the equivalent of all the PET currently collected in NZ.
Wishbone Design Studio is a Wellington-based company has created a multi-functional balance bike for children. The Recycled Edition is the world’s first bicycle made from 100-percent recycled material. Its frame is made from resin sourced from recycled residential carpet. The bike introduces very young children to a lifetime of cycling. It reduces landfill, minimises raw materials and avoids the consumption of fossil fuels in manufacture. It’s a three-in-one product, which transforms from three to two wheels. It grows with the child, thanks to a patented seat-and-frame adjusting system. And every component is available for purchase, so it can be easily repaired.
The Refillery, Hopper and other eco-source stores. Stores which allow you to buy the quantity you need, in your own or recyclable containers and also give sourcing information are a growing part of Wellington’s Food System.
Modular and Reusable materials are being incorporated into Wellington buildings like Thermosash. Used in the BNZ Harbour Quays Offices these panels were used in the façade of the building being demolished and were able to be recovered, upcycled and reused for planned future projects, including the Wellington Children’s Hospital link bridge and the new Thermosash factory and office building in Levin. Additional panels are scheduled for use on a proposed new Thermosash Auckland office and factory development.
