The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. — Albert Einstein

Two weeks ago I watched a short, animated film called The Story of Solutions by the award-winning film-maker and environmentalist Annie Leonard. She described the current economy as a board game in which players are expected to produce and produce regardless of whether what is produced is beneficial to them or not.

The first thing you do, she said, “is to find out what means are necessary to win the game, and that guides every decision you make”. She calls it the game of more. The solutions most people are working on pursue this game's simple goal. And that goal is more — more money to spend, more roads being built, more malls being opened, more stuff.

The rules of the game — that is the laws — are designed so that all participants do not deviate from the script. But there is a big difference between kids in school or more kids in jail, or windmills or more coal-fired power plant. So her conclusion was the following: “We can't change a game this dumb, one rule or one player at a time.”

The problem is the goal itself. She asked, “What if we build this game around the goal of 'better' — better education, better health, better stuff, a better chance to survive on this planet.”

Changing the goal of the economy is a big task, but when we focus on game-changing solutions we make it possible for a new game to be played.

New game: The circular economy

The game of the traditional linear economy is all about production and consumption in which manufacturers take raw material and produce goods. These goods are advertised and sold to consumers who make purchases then, over time, these goods or stuff are discarded and dumped as waste.

This old economic approach is not sustainable in this day and age. More needs to be done in Jamaica and across the region to improve resource efficiency. It is not rocket science to figure out that any game based on the rules of heavy production and consumption, rather than on the restorative use of resources would entail a significant loss along the value chain.

The linear model is reaching its physical limits. Recent data shows that, in 2015, global demand for resources was equivalent to 1.5 times what Earth can support in one year. The private sector has a key role to play in moving from an economy based upon a 'take-make-dispose' model to one based on a restorative and regenerative system. A number of factors indicate that the linear model is increasingly being challenged by the very context within which it operates, and that a deeper change of the operating system of our economy is necessary.

In Jamaica, the circular economy should be the new operating system of governments and businesses. It is restorative and regenerative by design and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times. Key elements of the circular economy model optimise resources by circulating products, components, and materials in use through different loops of the use cycle:

• maintain/prolong

• reuse/redistribute

• refurbish/remanufacture

• recycle

The business case for the circular economy

There are several established and emerging businesses around the world that have adopted a circular economy business model. I share a few examples just to show how much economic activity we are missing out and while creating job and real value for consumers.

Rype Office: Rype is a company that is changing how its customers think about their office furnishings. At Rype customers are given three options when they go to purchase office furniture — purchase new furniture and return it in a buy-back scheme, purchase remade furniture from existing feedstock, or have existing furnishings refreshed and returned to an as-new condition. The company boasts that they have challenged customers to tell the difference between new and re-manufactured products. How much money offices could save by choosing one of the cheaper options while still maintain style and décor at the office?

Fairphone: Last year while I was in South Africa I attended a strategic retreat with about 20 people from North America, Europe, and Africa, all of whom were concerned about the well-being of nations. As part of the 'get to know you' session we were asked to introduce ourselves by firstly saying our names and then sharing what was on our phones' screens saver. This was supposed to give a little insight into what we value as individuals.

Professor Lorenzo Fioramonti introduced himself: He had no screen saver, but what he had in his hands blew the collective minds around the table. He was sporting a smartphone called Fairphone. In 2013 Fairphone was launched as the first ethical smartphone. It contained no conflict minerals (which in smartphones are typically gold, tin, tantalum, and tungsten), but was made of aluminium and recycled plastic. The company offered full transparency on its production chain, has fair labour conditions for the workforce, and produces value for consumer using the circular economy model so that consumers own and use their phone longer.

Fairphone 2, which was launched at the end of 2016, is the first modular smartphone designed to be repaired and upgraded, breaking the vicious cycle of replacing older models with new ones on a regular basis; it works perfectly and is virtually unbreakable. Now I wish I had bought one. I am tired of changing my often shattered screen. Manufacturers are only happy when I change screens because it is all about the game of more and not the 'game of better'. The circular economy is the new game, and it is the 'game of better'.

Google is also practising the concepts of circular economy in their servers' supply chain and is unlocking the value that comes from demonstrating the circular economy at scale. As part of the Google-wide circular economy programme they continue to explore other opportunities throughout data centre operations. It is Google's belief that doing so will yield additional value for business, partners, and users.

I am calling on the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica and the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association to immediately start playing the new game with new rules and a new goal in mind — better over more. Let's start the dialogue now. Time is of the essence!

The manufacturing of the future has already begun, and it has the potential to reduce the impact on the environment, create jobs and wealth at the same time. — Carlos Ohde,

Henry J Lewis is a lecturer at the University of Technology, Jamaica, School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Send comments to the Observer or hjlewis@utech.edu.jm.