Rethinking the Future: iFixit Joins the Circular Economy 100

We’re incredibly proud to announce that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has selected iFixit to be a member of the Circular Economy 100. As part of the three-year program, iFixit will join a network of 100 leading companies around the world. Our mission is critical: build a better global economy. By 2017, the CE 100 will have deployed circular economy initiatives worth $10 billion.

What’s the Circular Economy?

The economy is dependent on the availability of cheap, raw materials for growth. Presently, we take those materials, make them into short-lived products, use them for a while, and throw them away—a one-way journey from the dirt to the dump.

In short, we’re living take-make-dispose lives in a world with finite resources. The middle class is expected to reach 5 billion people worldwide by 2030. More people are living above the poverty line, but that means more people are buying and consuming. We need a new economic model. Circular economics is not just eco-friendly, it’s business smart—the McKinsey Global Institute estimates $700 billion in global savings. For example:

• If manufacturers made phones easier to take apart, the cost of remanufacturing could be reduced by 50%.
• We could save 1.1 billion a year by keeping organic food waste out of landfills in the UK alone—and reduce greenhouse gasses by 7.4 million tons per year.
• Each year, approximately 15 million tons of clothing are discarded in the US and UK. Collected clothing could generate nearly $1,300 of revenue per ton—that’s $19.5 billion per year.

A circular economy—based on renewable energy sources, reuse, repair, and remanufacturing—closes the resource loop, bringing the economy full circle. By developing products that are made to be made again, we can grow the economy to new heights without destroying the environment.

Help us reshape the economy

We’ve always counted the iFixit community as part of our team. Your victories over shattered screens, dead batteries, broken phones, and crashed hard disks are our victories. Every repair story you share with us, every repair question you answer, and every new guide you create inspires us to be a better, more responsible company. You’ve helped us fight planned obsolescence. Now, as a company and a community, we are tackling an even bigger mission: let’s fix the economy—and the world—together.