Closing the loop is an opportunity to stop overfeeding the sea with nutrients and other pollutants that are slowly killing it, but it is also an opportunity to reuse and recycle valuable resources. It is the circular economy of the ocean.

The ocean is downstream of everything, so most of our unmanaged waste almost inevitably ends up in the oceans. But as there is a growing understanding that much waste can be seen as resources, there is a growing impetus to capture valuables such as nutrients or plastics before they reach the oceans.

Valuable Nutrients in Closed Loop

A large part of nutrient run-off into the oceans comes from agricultural production. Farmers spend significant sums of money on fertilizing their fields while downstream the water industry often spend a lot of resources on removing them from the drinking water. Keeping nutrients where they are needed can bring benefits to both industries while keeping the oceans healthier.

Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, can be transformed into energy and new fertilizers instead of flowing into the oceans to create dead zones. In the case of phosphorus, this double win situation is also a chance to preserve a critical resource which is approaching a shortage in supply in the near future.

New technologies are emerging that have the potential to improve nutrient management. The most promising of these technologies successfully reduce expenses or generate concentrated nutrient products that can be sold to offset costs. Closing the nutrient cycles is an opportunity to create healthier agriculture and healthier oceans, and it creates a space for innovation to develop cost efficient technology for turning runoffs into new resources.

In addition, to keep fertilizers in a closed loop with these new technologies, it is also possible to reuse the leftovers from livestock in agriculture to generate biogas that can be used as a source of energy.

 

Stop Plastic Reaching the Ocean

Closing the loop is also an opportunity to hinder other types of pollution from reaching the oceans, such as plastic. Most plastic does not bio-degrade but is only broken down in smaller and smaller pieces that accumulate in ocean sediments and enter the food web through ingestion by pelagic and benthic fauna, disturbing oceans ecosystems for centuries and resulting in an increasing health risk for humans. The longevity of plastics makes it ideal for reuse and recycling and by discovering the monetary value of plastic waste this can be turned into an opportunity. Planning for a more circular economy can hinder waste like plastic to reach the ocean and at the same time save money on the resources for producers.

Survey Findings

Oceans are the last undiscovered frontier. However, Closing the Loop is not a market opportunity which business sees great potential in according to our 2015 global survey.

Rated for its benefits to society and capacity to pursue, the market opportunity of closing the loop is not generally assessed with great optimism. However, in Sub Saharan Africa, it is received much more positively. Oppositely then India and South America do favor this market opportunity much. In the case of India, the capacity to pursue “closing the loop” is lower than on average for all the other market opportunities assessed in 2015, although the benefit for society has been assessed to be high by the respondents in the same region. For South America, both the benefits and capacity to pursue have been assessed to be lower than average of all opportunities.

Oceans are the last undiscovered frontier. However, Closing the Loop is not a market opportunity which business sees great potential in according to our 2015 global survey.

Rated for its benefits to society and capacity to pursue, the market opportunity of closing the loop is not generally assessed with great optimism. However, in Sub Saharan Africa, it is received much more positively. Oppositely then India and South America do favor this market opportunity much. In the case of India, the capacity to pursue “closing the loop” is lower than on average for all the other market opportunities assessed in 2015, although the benefit for society has been assessed to be high by the respondents in the same region. For South America, both the benefits and capacity to pursue have been assessed to be lower than average of all opportunities.

Closing the loop is among the market opportunities perceived to affect the governmental sector the most, however, the sector is not perceived to be very likely to pursue this opportunity. The service sector is more positive towards pursuing this opportunity.

This market was surveyed globally in 2015 by more than 5500 leaders from both the public and private sectors. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the research company YouGov. The survey results were originally published in the Global Opportunity Report 2016.


Global Goals addressed

Market Details

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