The support cycle between veganism and circularity
“Avoiding meat and dairy, procuring agro-ecological food options, and implementing practices such as reuse, recycling, and composting within a zero-waste vegan restaurant was found to improve the overall circularity of the system.”
Thales Eduardo Tavares Dantas et al, Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Life Cycle Assessment Research Group (CICLOG), Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, Brazil.
The “veganism” trend is one that has grown immensely in the last couple of years, with the global vegan market projected to grow from $26.16 billion in 2021 to $61.35 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 12.95 (FortuneBusinessInsights, 2020). Besides veganism, studies have also identified a large growth in eco-consumer and an increased sales growth for products claiming to be environmentally and socially responsible, with the products making ESG-related claims averaging a 28% cumulative growth over the past five years versus a 20% growth of companies that made no such claims (Frey et al., 2023).
But why this growth?
As mentioned above, there has been a steep rise in the demand for vegan products around the world in the last quinquennial. This is especially true within the food & beverage market. But then why are so many people switching to a plant-based diet? For some, it is for ethical reasons, as they care for animals and do not want to see them suffer. For others, it is attributed to the environmental impact of animal-based diets. However, most people who turn to veganism do it for health reasons. Research shows that ramping up your fruit and vegetable intake can also lead to a more robust immune system, lower cholesterol and often weight loss (Aia, 2022).
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At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic one thing that was available in endless supply was time. And given more time to contemplate on everyday actions and choices, a lot of people started to focus on the impact their purchasing decisions had on the environment. Within PwC’s June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey, half of all global consumers surveyed say that they have become even more eco-friendly (Emmert, 2021). Companies have also started noticing a spike in consumers growing demand for eco-friendly products.
Can veganism be taken to the extreme?
With electric cars being seen as environmentally friendly (on the consumer level), they still produce waste further down or early on in the supply chain via the use of fossil fuels to produce the electric energy or through the disposal of batteries. As with everything, veganism can also be taken to the extreme and seen as an absolute which does no wrong. I think we’ve all had the experience of meeting a vegan extremist who attempted to push their “no animal killing” agenda on others without further delving into the current fact that rodents and other animals must also be killed and disposed of in order to grow the plant-based food & crops that vegan consumers want (Cockshaw, 2023). By instead pushing veganism as the minimization of the suffering and death of animals and the maximization of one’s positive impact on the environment, less pushback would occur from non-vegans to adopt a more flexitarian diet and consume fewer animal products.
Can these 2 concepts be intertwined?
With veganism and eco-consumerism on the rise, an opportunity presents itself for the further expansion of both concepts. With research showing that a 25% reduction in meat consumption and transition to vegetarian eating patterns would minimize the impact of agricultural land expansion on ecosystems, biodiversity, and carbon dioxide emissions (all things that eco-consumers value) (Lynch et al., 2018).
Veganism and circularity have been found to have a very interesting and supporting relationship between one another. In the sense that they both help to bring the most out of their respective concepts. A more concrete example of these 2 concepts positively affecting one another can be seen in a research that performed a combined circularity and Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (OLCA) of a certified zero-waste vegan restaurant in Brazil. 3 scenarios were developed in which the adding of dairy and meat reduced the overall business circularity to 67%, while disregarding all vegan practices reduced it to 62%. The actual operation of the restaurant boasts a 91% circularity (Dantas et al., 2022).
With such evidence being displayed for the world to see, it is up to each and every individual to curb their diet and reduce the amount of animal consumption and the impact that they have on the environment. Doing an immediate 180 to a vegan diet is indeed difficult, however a slight reduction in weekly animal consumption should be possible for the future of our planet, your health and the eco system.
This article has been adapted from a section of the author’s thesis
