Circular Economy framework for sustainability — Dr. Anim-Mensah
In today’s business landscape, sustainability is paramount to ensuring continued growth and minimizing environmental impact. As resources dwindle, industries must adopt innovative approaches to preserve the planet while maintaining operations.
Circular economy (CE) offers a viable pathway to drive and achieve sustainability goals. Instead of the traditional model where raw materials that are used to make products are eventually thrown away, a circular economy focuses on keeping products, materials, and resources in use for as long as possible.
However, its implementation is often hindered by challenges such as resource unavailability, cultural misalignment, and high initial costs. To address these obstacles, a new CE implementation framework has been developed, providing step-by-step guidance for industries to navigate the transition.
This framework enables organisations to break down CE implementation into manageable clusters and phases, prioritizing initiatives and maximizing impact while minimizing risk.
The framework evaluates system phases against the R-strategy (or R-ladder strategy), a hierarchical system of circularity and sustainability principles, to determine the optimal starting point. This approach has been applied to reverse osmosis (RO) membrane desalination systems, a growing industry driven by increasing demands for clean water.
By applying the framework, RO membrane desalination systems can be evaluated across their life cycle phases: design, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. CE implementation is broken down into clusters: circular business models, resource efficiency strategies, and regenerative sustainability practices. This approach allows for gradual, phased implementation, reducing risks and enabling continuous improvement.
The framework offers a practical solution for industries seeking to adopt CE principles, providing a clear roadmap for prioritization, maximization, and economic feasibility. Its applicability extends to various sectors, making it an attractive option for organisations committed to sustainability.
Author
Written by Dr. Alexander Anim-Mensah. For a detailed explanation of his framework, including methodology and step-by-step process, refer to a published Frontier Journal article titled “Circular Economy (CE) Implementation Framework Development and Application to Reverse Osmosis (RO) Membrane Desalination Systems,” follow link: https://doi.org/10.3389/frmst.2025.1604508.
Dr. Anim-Mensah is a Ghanaian chemical engineer with a strong background in engineering, business, leadership, management, intellectual property, and strategy, based in the United States (U.S.). He has over thirty patents relating to machines, devices and efficient use of energy, water, chemicals, energy management, cleaning, refrigeration & heat pumps, optimization, process improvements, performance monitoring, waste minimization, and environmental impacts reduction.
Dr. Anim-Mensah holds a BSc (KNUST), MS (NCA&T), and Ph.D. (UC – OH) in Chemical Engineering. His numerous specializations include Technology, Operations, and Value Chain Management (MIT), Business Strategy (UVA) and Intellectual Property Law & Policy (UPenn).
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