Palimpsest and heterotopia, metaphors of the Circular Economy

Abstract

Words like palimpsest or heterotopia do not belong to the working vocabulary of materials or engineering sciences: they are used in Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). A palimpsest is a manuscript written on an older document, the text of which has been erased. Heterotopia is a young word forged by Michel Foucault in 1967 to describe a closed space, the boundaries of which mark a discontinuity in terms of behavior: a jail or a monastery are thus a heterotopia. The Circular Economy (CE) is an essential concept in the framework of the ecological transition, pulled by a series of converging economic, ecological and political drivers. It is usually described as the adoption of a circular model of production to replace the “linear model”, but also as the new buzzword to describe material efficiency, the 3-R rule, the zero-waste ideal, the concepts of lean or frugal design or their reformulation by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, as a societal challenge and an ethical necessity. Materials producers claim that they have been practicing the Circular Economy since long before the expression was ever invented, thus à la Monsieur Jourdain, etc. The point of this paper is to describe the Circular Economy as a palimpsest and as a heterotopia and to use the metaphors, if indeed they are only metaphors, to highlight some of the less obvious features of the CE. A palimpsest is a parchment or a papyrus, which is used several times to support a series of consecutive texts. Secondary raw materials are like a palimpsest, because there are retrieved from a previous life and used again in a second life: a new artefact made from that material is like a new text written on/with this material – a metaphor also used, mutatis mutandis, in expressions like 3-D printing or laser scribing. Some interesting features of the CE pointed out by the metaphor: a the palimpsest can be used several times, like a material can be recycled several times; the concept of the palimpsest posits that the parchment is somehow more important than the text that is written on it, therefore a material is more important than the goods that are made of it; the palimpsest was used before the invention of paper and, similarly, the Circular Economy was the standard model before mass production of cheap consumer goods imposed the so-called “linear model”; a palimpsest keeps a fragmented memory of the past, in the same way as recycled material maintains a link to its past lives, through its composition in tramp elements. Examples of heterotopia are a prison or a cemetery. The Circular Economy defines a space where a particular material/element exists in its various avatars, impersonations and reincarnations and this may tentatively be worked out as a heterotopia. This is a more complex endeavor than discussing the palimpsest metaphor, but a potentially more fruitful one. Foucault has provided criteria defining heterotopia which can help us explore the analogy: particularly the point that such a space is either a space of illusion or a space of perfection. This analysis is original because it hybridizes materials and SSH concepts and thus fits with the exploration of the frontier between materials and society that SAM conferences are concerned about.

A policy framework for the circular economy: Lessons from the EU

“…The three policy groups in this category are (i) general propositions for end-of-life-management, (ii) waste treatment, and (iii) emissions trading schemes. Example policies and policyrelevant analysis are forecasts of waste flow for 'mature' electronic products , subsidies, tax-credits, and pay-back programs for agricultural plastic pollution , and the use of social-scientific and humanities perspectives in 'environmental ethics' approaches to policy ideation (Birat, 2019). Of 572 studies, 64 address this category, representing a moderate level of coverage relative to that of other categories.…”

SME’s, energy efficiency, innovation: a reflection on materials and energy transition emerging from a research on SMEs and the practice of Energy Audit

“…The relation between the CE, the green transition and materials is not just generic, but is due to some specific reasons: 1. First of all, as largely acknowledged, the transition towards the CE is related to Energy Efficiency: there would be no point in promoting a CE that does not imply Energy Savings in any form; anyhow, "the coherence of the two approaches is not ensured" [4]; 2. Secondly, materials are widely considered as connected to Energy Efficiency because the ways in which materials are used (e.g.…”

“…Secondly, materials are widely considered as connected to Energy Efficiency because the ways in which materials are used (e.g. by recycling them), designed and produced have relevant impacts on the possibility of saving energy (for the relation between CE and materials, [3][4][5]).…”

“…The study was based on a literature review and on indepth interviews with 42 key persons 4 , also on the obstacles to the practice of EEMs and, mainly EAs, by SMEs. A specific attention was paid to the entire process that begins with the set-up of an enabling frame that should allow the decision of a SME to change its current practices, undergo an EA and, then, introduce the appropriate changes to save energy.…”

Special issue on Materials and Society: the Circular Economy SAM-13

“…philosophy and epistemology: -JP. Birat of IF Steelman [1] discusses the matter of the circular economy by considering that reused or recycled materials are akin to a palimpsest (an old manuscript that is erased and on which a new text is written) on the one hand and that the circular economy is a heterotopia (a space separated from usual physical space by specific rules, even though both do communicate) on the other hand. The method proves capable of discussing all the features of the circular economy in a compact manner and may be casting light on unexplored areas; -H. Tveit and L. Kolbensein of NTNU [2] discuss the special status of silicon as a material by analyzing the specifics of its entropy function, which are definitely unique compared to those of a common metal.…”