TDRI transforms business models to implement circular values

By ANIS FARHANAH MALEK
anisfarhanah@dagangnews.com

KUALA LUMPUE 18 Dec. - Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) has transformed the business models to enhance the recycling of resources.

“The increasing deficit over the years indicates that the current economic production model has a profound impact on the environment with the consumption of ecological resources difficult to sustain and only getting worse every year,” TDRI President, Chang Chi-Yi, quoted saying in a statement today.

The same statement highlighted Taiwan's mature manufacturing supply chain allows designers to quickly integrate the supply chain of their circular products.

It said, in recent years, most products nominated for the Golden Pin Design Awards have embedded circular designs into their products - from the recycling and reuse of waste resources.

Works reproduced from recycled resources also include industrial products with more complex components.

“Since the promotion of the recycling program in 2016, the recycling rate had reached 104.48% in 2019 – this means some old wine bottles discarded from past years were also recycled.

“This case created a win-win situation in which the company's costs were reduced, consumers were rewarded, and resources were recycled.

“It also proved that even without leveraging new technologies, the transformation of business models can also bring about huge improvements and implement circular values,” said the statement.

In 2006, the British New Economic Foundation collaborated with the global think tank Global Footprint Network (GFN) to develop and promote the concept of Earth Overshoot Day.

After analysing historical data, they found that humans began to “overdraft” ecological resources around 1970, and that later in the years of 1986, 1997, and 2005, humans ran an ecological deficit in October, September, and August respectively.

The "2020 Circular Design Exhibition" organized by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs highlighted the concept of Earth Overshoot Day at launch, allowing visitors to realize the need to enhance the recycling of resources.

“Circular design involves the delicate balance and solutions of various scales and considerations.

“Only with comprehensive information about the lifecycle of various resources can we find a holistic solution to system sustainability,” Chi-Yi added.

Through its global expansion plans, TDRI is actively reaching out to local Malaysian organizations and businesses to forge partnerships by introducing Taiwanese design abilities.

In July 2020, TDRI has previously conducted online business matching sessions with 17 selected Malaysian companies and will continue to explore partnerships with Malaysian businesses in the upcoming year.  – DagangNews.com