Circular excellence: Guide to creating a reusable material inventory

Creating a product and material inventory for reuse within an existing project can be a game-changer for businesses embracing the principles of the circular economy and sustainable manufacturing. Doing so allows companies to reduce waste, conserve resources, lower costs, and ultimately, boost their green credentials.

1. Conducting a Material Flow Analysis (MFA):

A Material Flow Analysis is an integral starting point for creating a product and material inventory. This systematic assessment of the flow of materials into, through, and out of your organization provides a comprehensive understanding of resource use.

An MFA not only tracks the journey of raw materials from entry into the production process to their eventual exit as finished products or waste, but it also monitors internal transfers and transformations. By creating a visual representation of these flows, inefficiencies and waste can be more readily identified, and opportunities for resource conservation and circularity can be highlighted.

2. Material Identification and Cataloguing:

Once the MFA is complete, the next stage involves carefully identifying and cataloguing all materials and products used within your manufacturing processes. This goes beyond merely naming the materials; it extends to documenting their attributes, such as physical properties, chemical composition, source, and quantity.

3. Establish a Tracking System:

Establishing a robust tracking system is vital in maintaining up-to-date knowledge of material flows. This can range from traditional barcoding systems to more advanced technologies like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Blockchain technology for more secure, transparent, and tamper-proof tracking.

For example, De Beers, the diamond giant, uses Blockchain technology to track the journey of diamonds from mine to customer, ensuring ethical sourcing and offering transparency to consumers.

4. Material Rating and Reusability Assessment:

Each material or product needs to be assessed for its reusability potential. Elements such as durability, ease of disassembly, contamination risks, and potential degradation should be considered.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation offers a Circular Design Guide that provides principles and strategies for designing for circularity, including material selection and system thinking.

5. Create a Material Passport:

A Material Passport is a digital document capturing everything known about a product’s material composition and its capacity for reuse or recycling. It's like a biography of a material, recording the types, quantities, assembly methods, location, health and safety information, and more.

Consider the case of Madaster, which offers a digital platform that generates Material Passports for buildings, documenting the identity, origin, current location, and future reusability of each material.

6. Implement a Circular Supply Chain:

After completing your material inventory, you can start implementing circular economy principles into your supply chain. This could involve designing for disassembly, engaging with suppliers that offer product take-back programmes, or repurposing waste materials into new production processes.

An example is Philips' Circular Equipment Service, which reuses all viable parts and materials from decommissioned medical equipment. This service not only reduces waste but also saves costs associated with procuring new components.