The Circular Economy: Building Trust Through Conformity Assessment

Using the CASCO Toolbox to repair and restore

Economic practices need to change. The environmental and social consequences of unsustainable growth strategies are becoming increasingly obvious. A circular economy offers a way to counteract the climate crisis, strengthen our adaptive capacity, and make society more sustainable and resilient. Standards and conformity assessment are part of the solution.

The circular economy reduces the need for resources extracted from nature because it ensures that products are reused as many times as possible and materials are recycled. Resources and energy no longer go to waste as the unwanted byproducts from one economic process are fed back into another in a never-ending flow.

When products are passed on from one person to another, and used materials re-enter the value chain, consumers and companies need reassurance: Are the goods still safe and undamaged? Are they designed to last?

That’s where ISO standards and tools to assess conformity come in. While sustainability standards define requirements in line with circular economy principles, such as durability, reusability, upgradability, or repairability, conformity assessment offers tools to demonstrate that these requirements are met.

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Comments

applying standards to conjecture & subjective activities

The very first paragraph states: "A circular economy offers a way to counteract the climate crisis..."

Please describe or define the term "climate crisis" in a way that it can be measured accurately for auditing purposes. How do we audit our circular economy efforts against the "climate crisis".

Threatened?

"Almost all sectors and industries are threatened by climate change, either directly or indirectly"

The biggest threat many of us face is being driven out of business, or into the poor-house, by the regulations imposed to combat this so-called crisis, advocated by the so-called experts who fly around the world in private jets to tell us how big this crisis is.

No definition offered

It would appear that ISO is unable or unwilling to provide a working definition of "climate crisis". So we're expected to implement standards with no way of assessing their effectiveness or results. Thanks, but no thanks ISO. This is just an exercise in futility.