International institutions, governments, local authorities, water utilities and water-intensive industries are all important for ensuring a safe and adequate water supply chain. But when it comes to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation, there has been little to no progress in the European Union over the past five years.
In addition, when it comes to water availability, about 30% of Europe’s population is affected by water stress during an average year. Climate change is expected to worsen the problem, with droughts increasing in frequency, magnitude and impact. With a failure to prioritize water quality in the EU and water scarcity increasing with climate change, urgent action needs to be taken to ensure water resources management in Europe follows a circular economy approach.
Linear versus a circular economy
Manufactured capital, human capital and natural capital all contribute to human welfare by supporting the production of goods and services in the economic process, where natural capital – the world’s stock of natural resources provided by nature before their extraction or processing by humans – is typically used for material and energy inputs into production and acts as a “sink” for waste from the economic process.
This economic model can be best described as “linear”, which typically involves economic actors (people or organizations) harvesting and extracting natural resources, using them to manufacture a product, and selling a product to other economic actors, who then discard it when it no longer serves its purpose.
In the linear economy, following this “take-make-dispose” model, the water sector typically employs the “take-use-discharge” strategy, where water is “withdrawn” from streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, oceans and groundwater reservoirs, as well as harvested directly as rainwater. Water is then “used” by municipalities, industries, agriculture, the environment, etc. within the water cycle, including for consumptive and non-consumptive uses. Non-consumptive used water is “returned” to the river basin directly or via a municipal treatment facility. Depending on the location within the basin, this returned water could then be used downstream or lost to the basin.
While the current linear economic model has generated an unprecedented level of growth, the model has led to constraints on the availability of natural resources in addition to the generation of waste and environmental degradation. In response to climate change, increasing resource scarcity and environmental degradation, there is a global transition towards the circular economy, which focuses on reducing material consumption, reusing materials and recovering materials from waste.
When it comes to water resources management, the circular economy aims to:
- Reduce water consumption through water conservation and water use efficiency and management
- Reuse water for another purpose without treatment
- Recycle water for various potable and non-potable uses
- Recover materials from wastewater, including generating renewable energy and recovering materials
- Regenerate natural capital by reducing consumptive and non-consumptive uses of water
Overall, the circular economy model contributes to environmental benefits and generates social and economic benefits – a circular economy could increase global economic growth by $4.5 trillion.
Implementing the circular economy
Numerous forward-thinking companies in Europe are beginning to implement circular economy business models that reduce water consumption, reuse and recycle water and wastewater, and recover materials, including heat and minerals. They are also seeking solutions to minimize water scarcity, avoid environmental degradation and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
For example, Finnforel – a sustainable fish farm in Finland – uses recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) technology. In traditional fish farming, the residuals are released back to the oceans, whereas in this closed loop system, energy is used to clean up the water before it is released back to the lakes. While the process ensures healthier lakes and oceans, it consumes significant energy. To tackle this challenge, Finnforell has an extensive plan to mitigate CO2 emissions by using more and more renewable energy.
There is no business or industry that can go without a water strategy. The first steps are to understand how much water your company is consuming directly or indirectly in the supply chain, how it can be reduced and how water efficiency can be increased. Next, companies should engage everyone internally (employees) and externally (the supply chain) to contribute to the water efficiency plan, measure the progress and report the positive impact.