1. The premier online source for information on recycling, industrial ecology,
and Cradle-to-Cradle processes.
Created By:
Jake Hvistendahl – Master‟s in Sustainable Design Program
Intro to Sustainable Design at MN College of Art and Design

2. THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Due to increased evidence of man’s effects on climate change and our reliance on finite resources
on a finite planet, scholars, climate scientists, and industrialists have started to pave they way for
a circular economy. This economy goes beyond our current linear system of extract, create, and
discard. A circular economy designs out waste, and uses the Cradle-to-Cradle principles where
the waste of one system equals food for other systems.

3. “A large-scale transition to a circular economy promises to address
fundamentally some of the economy‟s long-term challenges. Improved
material productivity, enhanced innovation capabilities, and a further
shift from mass production employment to skilled labour, are all
potential gains that will significantly increase the resilience of
GETTING ROUNDER economies.” - The Ellen MacArthur Foundation –
„Towards a Circular Economy‟
Benefits of a Characteristics of a
Circular Economy Circular Economy
Profits  Designs out waste
 Material savings  Designs for disassembly
 Reductions in price fluctuations
 Designs for re-use
 Less volatility in supply chains
 Creates cascading use cycles
 Creation of stable cross-sector industrial
ecologies  Generates cross-sector nutrient
pathways
People
 Creation of new skilled jobs  Uses renewable energy sources
 Become users not consumers  Creates symbiotic industrial processes
Planet  Values Innovation over production
 Reduced material extraction and mining  Moves towards a more skilled labor
 Less waste entering land fills force
 Toxic materials designed out of products  Creates more durable products

4. Manufacturer Manufacturer
To move towards a circular economy we
need to create enablers. These enablers improve
cross cycle and cross sector processes, where the
outputs of one industry become the inputs for
another. In order to achieve circular processes,
User Engineer designers and industrial engineers need to have
current information on potential technical nutrients
being outputted within their communities.
Designers creating processes and products
Cross Sector in the circular economy need access and
Product Cycle information about what nutrients are available for
their production process. Once given access to this
information, they are able to close material loops
within cross-sector industries.
User Designer
Designers and engineers also need current
information on new recycling processes and
industrial ecology advancements that inspire the
creation of tighter material cycles.
Disassembly Disassembly

5. WHAT IS NUTRA-LAB? Recyclers
and Waste
Government
Data Industrial
Ecologists
Disposers
 Nutra-Lab is a non-profit organization that
gathers data from recyclers, government
entities, industrial ecologists, and industry Industry
sectors. After compiled and analyzed, Nutra- University
Supplied
Lab disseminates this data via its easily Research
Data
searchable website. Nutra-Lab is the premier
resource for designers and engineers to create
circular economic processes. Nutra-Lab
 By gathering market and process data about
the locations, amounts, and types of nutrient
streams available in certain areas, Nutra-Lab
helps other companies create cross-sector
closed-loop processes and symbiotic industrial
relationships. Industrial Product Process
 Nutra-Lab uses its access to actors in the Ecologist Designer Engineer
circular economic community, and the money
generated through its advertising revenue, to
support the creation and adoption of
New Novel Tightened
governmental and economic policies that
Symbiotic Cradle-to- Circular
further the goals of a circular economy.
Industrial Cradle Industrial
Relationship Product Process

6. ?
DATABASE FUNCTION
To explore the database and locate possible
closed-loop solutions or inputs for novel
processes, a designer can search for a
process, specific nutrient, or location by
relevance.
 For a process search, the submenu is divided
into categories relating to different recycling
and up-cycling process types based on inputs
and outputs.
 A nutrient search involves a direct search for a
Nutrient specific nutrient or the designer could break
Process Location into submenus for technical or biological
Type
nutrients, which would be further categorized
by their properties or uses.
-Metals -Recycling
-Plastics -Recapture  A location search displays a map of
-Solvents -Reprocessing participating industries and their nutrient
-Ceramics -Repurposing outflows, circular industries of note, resources
-Etc… -Etc… like University and governmental programs,
etc.

7. Product 1 Product 2
WHAT IS NUTRA-LINK?
 After the database is created, Nutra-Lab can
begin construction of the supporting Nutra-Link Primary $$$ Secondary
marketplace. Within the Nutra-Link Industrial Industrial
marketplace, industries and designers actively
Process Process
buy and sell specific nutrients online.
 The Nutra-Link marketplace is an intuitive
navigable site for the redistribution of nutrients
across industry sectors. The sale of these
nutrient outflows provides additional revenue Nutrient Nutrient
for companies, input sourcing for designers, Outflow Inflow
and the generation of a larger online
community for circular industry pioneers. A
Information on cost, Information on cost,
designer or ecologist looking for a specific
location, and chemical location, and chemical
nutrient can search the site by region or
composition composition
specific nutrient to locate potential sources for
their processes. When they locate a supplier
Nutra-Link
and negotiate the price and volume, the trade Marketplace
can take place outside of the website. For
transportable materials with known market Money from Data about industry,
prices, the transaction can occur directly transaction fees amount of material
through the website for a small fee. recaptured, and sale price
Nutra-Lab
Database

8. NEXT STEPS
Scaling Up Regulation and Legislation
 As a non-profit corporation, the start-up capital  A portion of revenue generated through
for the formation of Nutra-Lab is donation donations, site advertisements, and transaction
driven. fees will fund the creation and support of
 These donations build the database and fund: legislation that promotes a circular economy.
 Site construction
 Research interns and information librarians  Nutra-Lab will use its user base network to
 Advertising in Industrial Ecology and Product Design create effective community support for:
publications  Meaningful regulations and taxations on waste
practices
 Ad revenue from the completed database will
 Incentives for creating novel recycling processes and
lessen the need for continual fundraising cyclical industrial processes
efforts.  Environmental regulations that create increased
 After the Nutra-Lab database is complete, demand for in-stream materials and protect the
environment against damaging extraction practices
construction will begin on the Nutra-Link
 Incentivize further expansion of renewable energy
marketplace. sources
 Nutra-Link marketplace will generate additional
advertising revenue as well as transaction fees.
 This revenue will be reinvested in expanding
the database and advertising to generate more
industry participation.

9. Manufacturer
Manufacturer
User Engineer User
User Designer
User
Disassembly Disassembly
An online database dedicated to helping designers and engineers develop
sustainable circular industrial systems and product designs.
Thanks for watching!
-Jake Hvistendahl