Our Future: The Circular Economy

By Gemma Tabet

Written: October 17, 2021

Theme of Issue: SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production. Here is the official UN link where you can learn more about this particular Sustainable Development Goal: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12

---

Photo from Aceleron, article: "What does Circular economy really mean?"

---

We live in a world based on the linear economy, where natural resources are taken, used and then thrown away, over and over again. This system relies on cheap, accessible materials; a system made stronger by the Industrial Revolution. But impending issues like the climate crisis show us that this system is destructive and not sustainable, accumulating tons of waste and relying on dwindling resources that harm the environment. Many argue that now is the right time to implement a circular economy, the very opposite of the linear economy’s motto of ‘take, use, throw’. A circular economy is similar to an ecosystem in nature, where each element is created and needed for other elements to work. It’s a cycle of closed loops in which resources are made, used and reused or recycled and the waste that can’t be reintegrated is made biodegradable. It’s meant to find a balance between technology and the environment; making sure each step is sustainable and effective by the following principles.

1. Renewable Resources

Production is optimised with the use of renewable resources, made to last as long as possible, in order to reduce dependence on non-renewable resources that harm the environment (like oil, gas or coal). Renewable resources can be implemented with ease knowing that a circular economy also requires less energy than the current linear one.

2. Closed Cycles Closed cycles refers to the closure of material cycles, like in an ecosystem. This means that everything in the system can be recycled and reused; there is no waste because everything is used to make a new product. It’s similar to food cycles in the wild and there are no toxic substances, but rather all products have to be made to be recycled and in high quality to remain in the cycle.

3. Systems Thinking

In a circular economy every single element, whether businesses, people or plants, is connected and part of over-layered systems, each one linked to the other. Every action will influence another action, and system thinking is a method of thinking that takes in consideration the short- and long-term consequences on each element, knowing their connections will impact the value of the entire cycle.

Image above shows the elements in the circular economy, some mentioned already above. Source: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2019

It’s also important to know that the circular economy can be divided into two main cycles, the technological cycle (techno-cycle) and the biological cycle (bio-cycle), helping producers understand how materials can be made to have a long, high-quality life and helping to divide organic and technical materials after use.

The techno-cycle is made up of technical materials, which are materials with a limited availability and can’t be recreated (fossil fuels, plastics and metals). The techno-cycle aims to make sure that the stocks of the finite materials are well managed and that the materials are used instead of consumed and can be recovered and restored.

The bio-cycle is made up of organic materials (food and water), which can be incorporated into natural ecosystems and regenerated using renewable resources or biological processes. The bio-cycle relies on ecosystems doing their job to reuse excess waste and to create materials. Consumption (fertilisation, food and water) may also appear here as long as ecosystems are not overworked but regulated and no toxic substances enter the environment.

Image above shows the Butterfly Diagram, illustrating how every element in the circular economy can be divided into the biological cycle (left) and technological cycle (right) and how they are reused and connected to one another. Source: Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2015

With a clearer idea of what the circular economy consists of, the next step is putting these elements into practice using the following four strategies (presented by a WWF report and rewritten here).

1. Narrowing Resource Loops

Narrowing Resources Loops means to decrease material and energy use per product. It’s about making products as efficient as possible, for example by reducing the weight of an aircraft for greater fuel use. Some companies in the linear economy already implement this for maximum profit, but the circular economy focuses more on the eco-efficiency of products, making sure their composition has no negative impact on the environment.

2. Closing Resource Loops

Closing Resources Loops means ensuring that both the production materials and resources as well as the final product are recyclable. It’s known that recycling is very successful in protecting the environment, but it’s a difficult implementation for manufactured materials like plastic, glass, cement or aluminum as their recycling process requires a high amount of energy consumption. We need to have more environmentally friendly substitutes, which can be efficiently recycled and produced.

3. Slowing Resource Loops

Slowing Resources Loops means to use products for longer. This requires high-quality products made to last, so that consumption and resource use decreases. It has the potential to be the most impactful but is the most challenging as it requires the current business model to be completely changed to focus on quality over quantity and to slow down the consumption rate rather than speed it up.

4. Regenerating Resource Loops

Regenerating Resources Loops means the involvement of organisations to leave the environment in a cleaner state than it was before. This requires eliminating the use of toxic substances, increasing use of renewable resources and using strategies that focus on keeping the environment clean in all stages.

But why should the circular economy be put into place? Here enters the fundamental core of this system: unlike the linear economy, which uses the resources of future generations, the circular economy aims to use only essential resources allowing a sustainable future for all generations and, in if put in place during this generation would even curb and reduce problems such as air, ocean and land pollution, extinction rates and loss of habitats.

Further, the economy would also benefit from implementing the circular system. The United Nations Environmental Plan (UNEP) calculated that in 2050 a global circular economy would gain $2 trillion a year from effective resource management, lower cost of raw materials and from the promotion of innovation and employment. The European Commission even estimated that switching to a circular economy could save EU businesses $600 billion.

The circular economy is evidently what the world needs for a better future. Today, it’s the ideal system that should be used in developing countries and implemented in developed countries, especially in the biggest world polluters like China (30% of all greenhouse emissions) and the United States of America (14% of all greenhouse emissions).

We need to begin the slow change to circularity to preserve our environment and to ensure a better future for all, because we each have an important role to play in protecting the wellbeing of our planet and the wellbeing of generations to come. We’ve seen what a future of climate change will look like: heat waves, raging wildfires, rising sea levels, millions homeless, species dying out. But here is a long-term solution, waiting to be used. Will we take it and try to save our world, or will we continue on this path of self-destruction and turn a blind eye?