Industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy: How re.life, a Recyclables Trading Platform, Is Generating New Value from Waste

Recycling is the process of turning waste into new products that can benefit the community and the environment. It can reduce emissions associated with manufacturing processes such as producing virgin plastic and keep waste out of the environment. However, simply recycling a portion of our waste is not enough anymore, especially as our landfills increasingly pile up with waste. The world now seems to be in a neverending cycle of buying products, throwing them away, only to buy similar new products again. Gone are the days when we would only procure products and materials out of necessity. As a result, today we have homes, driveways, offices and storage units full of stuff, and we still continue to buy more.

Globally, 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced each year, and 40% of the food produced is wasted, resulting