We live in a world where resources are already in circulation – from materials in everyday products to human creativity and knowledge. To achieve continued growth, and even increase the rate of growth, we need to rethink how we view resources and growth.
By decoupling economic profit from resource extraction and instead maximizing the value of what we already have, we can create sustainable growth. If we also reevaluate growth to include more than just economic growth, we can create a more sensible and long-term successful future.
The resources are already there – it’s about using them better
For decades, growth has been synonymous with extracting new resources: virgin materials, energy and land that create new products we can sell. But today we are facing a new reality.
Most of the resources we need for continued development are already in circulation – in products, buildings, technologies and even in our societies, and continuing to pick up virgin materials depletes our planet in a way that creates worse conditions for our quality of life.
The key lies in how we refine things:
- Material recycling: Increasingly creating new products from existing materials reduces the need for resource extraction. Electronics that are recycled to extract valuable metals are a clear example of how we can create new products without mining new metals.
- Product design for circularity: By designing products that can be dismantled and reused, we can use resources over and over again without always having to go all the way to recycling. Here we need to think differently about how we design products.
- Social resource use: The sharing economy and the co-use of resources, such as tools or vehicles, enable the same materials to be used by more people without requiring new resources. We need to start seeing resource-intensive products that are then not used as a waste rather than a measure of wealth.
We therefore need to increasingly ask ourselves how growth can build on what we already have instead of just having new products and their function in mind.
Decoupling from resource extraction creates opportunities for faster growth
When we decouple growth from material use, a new dynamic emerges. It is no longer about competing for limited resources, but about maximizing the value of what we already have. This makes it possible to increase the pace of development without being burdened by environmental consequences and punitive taxes.
Examples of opportunities:
- Service-based business models: Companies can move from selling products to selling services, such as rental models for clothing, machinery or technology. This allows resources to be used more efficiently and over a longer period of time. New products that optimize services and service performance create higher value in the future than they have done so far.
- Repair and maintenance models: Services that focus on repairing instead of replacing create greater economic value when the products or parts for them already exist, since the costs of waste will increase with each natural disaster.
- Digitalization: By offering virtual products and services, such as music, education or consulting, companies can create value without using physical resources.
Business models can constantly evolve as needs and what is valued constantly change and are now changing towards new values and valuations.
A reassessment of what is important drives development forward
For the decoupling of the need for new materials and the economy to become a reality, a change in how we view value is required. Traditionally, we have measured success solely in economic and material terms – more money, more products, bigger houses, faster cars. But future development is more about maximizing well-being.
The value of well-being and social investments:
Access to education, health and security creates societies where we want to live and residue.
- Access to culture and community creates social contexts where we want to be.
- Access to services for things we cannot do ourselves allows us to focus on things we do want, which provides a higher quality of life.
- In societies where this does not exist, e.g. where there is surveillance, war or inequality, we of course do not want to go there and then we should value this in the right way and not just look at economic benefits.
By striving to create money in order to hope for prosperity later, we miss the opportunity to create prosperity immediately, which is what we really value.
Business models in change – from consumption to processing
A central part of the future economy is that companies adapt to a reality where growth increases and resources are used efficiently. This means changing business models that are based on:
- Value-creating services: The focus shifts from selling more products to improving the experience and quality of life of more customers and realizing that this is not the same thing.
- Circular ecosystems: Companies collaborate to focus on the customer’s quality of life and make reduced resource consumption a common goal between companies with significantly greater synergies between industries.
- Long-term relations: Instead of selling products quickly and cheaply, companies are building models that focus on long-term customer satisfaction and relations.
Being able to think new about the business model and being able to adapt it becomes a competitive advantage.
An infinity mindset on business creates unlimited possibilities
If we stop seeing the world as a place where we compete for resources to increase the economy and instead as a place where creativity, innovation and community are infinite resources that continuously increase our quality of life, we can create a new kind of growth. This growth is not based on taking more from the planet but on creating meaning from what is there.
Let’s build a future where creativity and innovation make continuous growth in the quality of life possible.
