The Circular Economy
A Circular Economy dictates activities that preserve value in the form of energy, labor, and materials. This means designing for high performance, durability, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling to keep products, components, and materials circulating in the economy. EMC’s unique business model provides a foundation for designing further Circular Economy into our product.
Circular Economy System
EMC and The
Circular Economy
Starting with a business model that uses 20X less materials and a product that is 99% recyclable, EMC is working toward a Circular Economy compliant model. Our BackbonePV™ product manufacturing has negligible environmental footprint and can be a significant addition to the renewable energy arsenal powering the global decarbonization effort while remaining Circular Economy compliant.
Highlights of our roadmap to a Circular-compliant company include:
> BackbonePV™ product that is designed for cradle to cradle;
> Using raw material resources that are already cradle to cradle;
> EMC factories that use substantially less power than semiconductor PV module factories and powered with renewable energy;
> Minimal environmental footprint.
We have some work to do as we fit-up our first 4GW GigaSpeed production line, but our Circular Economy foundation, and our commitment to it, is solid.
Lead Recycling
The Most Efficient and Complete Metal Recycling Stream.
> The current lead recycling rate in North America and Europe is nearly 100 percent.
> 85 percent of lead is used in lead batteries, nearly 100 percent is recovered and recycled.
> All lead produced in the U.S. and 79 percent of lead produced in Europe comes from recycled stock.
> One terawatt of perovskite solar material requires less than 1/10th of 1% of all lead recycled globally.
Planetary Boundaries
While further quantifying is needed, EMC operations will take place within Planetary Boundaries framework. The model was developed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Australian National University to identify the nine processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system. The scientists proposed quantitative planetary boundaries within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come. Crossing these boundaries increases the risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. The Planetary Boundaries frame is used widely as a precondition for sustainable development programming such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
EMC’s BackbonePV™ material’s broad applications in the “electrify everything” landscape can directly contribute to the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 7 (Affordable and Abundant Clean Energy) while indirectly contributing large value in six other SDG sectors including 3, 8, 9 11,12,13.
