Circularity: Are we theRe yet?

“I’ve got a flat tire,” says one person.
- “Well, then patch it up, right?” responds another.

In the days that follow, this same conversation repeats itself several times — until someone points out to “the one and the other” what might actually be causing the flat tire. As that person walks away, they mutter something about symptoms — but that had been the topic of discussion for days already...

Lansink’s
Ladder

Back in 1979, the Dutch political sphere introduced the so-called “Lansink’s Ladder”.

Everyone was already familiar with landfilling and incineration, but the ladder offered a clearer way of looking at waste management.
In the years that followed, concepts like recycling and reuse gained prominence, and "recycling" slowly evolved into a widely adopted movement.

The 10 R's

Over time, the essence of the ladder was expanded and refined, resulting in the 10 R’s:

In essence, we’re now talking about three main elements:

  • Making useful applications of materials and components
  • Extending the lifespan of products and/or their materials and parts
  • Producing and using products in smarter ways

However, even without diving into an entirely new topic, it’s fair to say that economic lifespan has become more important than technical lifespan.
Often, technical innovation goes hand in hand with a persistent drive for newness — a kind of "technical hunger" that fuels the need for more and newer, even when it’s not strictly necessary.

You might almost want to add a foundational “R”: Responsibility. For both the manufacturer and the consumer.
I bring this up because the beautiful, refined overview of the 10 R’s is actually urging you to move towards the top of the ladder:
“What doesn’t exist, doesn’t cause symptoms.”

And yet, we see countless examples of products that are intentionally non-repairable by design, prone to software-driven obsolescence, or situations where buying new is more attractive than repairing.

In a future blog, I’ll introduce “The Ladder of Limitation” — the shadow side of the inspiring-on-paper R’s that are meant to guide us toward a circular economy.

10 R's & Logicall

At Logicall, the 10 R’s and the concept of circularity are both logical and essential frameworks.
Like many things, it’s something that we must approach holistically: within our internal operations, with our employees, customers, suppliers — in fact, with all our stakeholders.

So, do we regularly pump and patch tires at Logicall? Absolutely — and we often do it efficiently and effectively.
Can it be done differently? For sure. Because no matter how well we manage symptoms, a determined focus on root causes always results in a more structural approach — and in turn, structural Results.

To close:
“Are we theRe yet?”
No, not yet. There’s still so much to gain — especially with our evolving goals and the many parties and interests involved in this topic.

Evert Stijkel – Head of ESG