We are no longer speaking of sustainability as a buzzword, but more of a way forward in ensuring our survival in terms of the environment, economies, and communities in the year 2025. However, a more conventional way of sustainability, which is recycling or minimizing of carbon footprint, is no longer sufficient. There is an emerging movement demanding more than that: a transition to a circular economy.
As opposed to the classical linear mode, the circular economy is based on reducing the number of disposals and extending the life of resources, product value, through taking maximum out of them before recovering and regenerating them when they reach their end-of-life stage. It is an emerging paradigm that changes the meaning of growth to one that favors pro-social returns within the society. With the accumulation of an unparalleled amount of global waste as well as the threat of scarcity of resources at the doorstep, this solution is fast becoming a viable and scalable model of long-term sustainability.
What is a circular economy?
A circular economy is the system that sets its task to ward off waste and constant usage of resources. It is in contrast to a linear economy whose model is founded on a take-make-waste approach. A circular economy:
- Designing products makes them durable, reusable, and recyclable.
- Wastes are reduced or recycled.
- The people haven’t taken anything out of the natural systems; they actually can regenerate the natural systems.
This model can work in any industry, whether it is fashion or electronics, construction or agriculture, and contribute to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, consumption of resources, and innovation.
A shift to a closed economy will lower greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 39 percent and create approximately $4.5 trillion in new economic value by the year 2030, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Why the Circular Economy Is Happening Now:
1. World Waste Disaster:
The amount of solid waste generated in the world is more than 2 billion tons annually and is likely to rise by 70 percent by 2050. Instead, landfills are full, oceans are clogged with microplastic waste, and a significant part of the waste management systems are malfunctioning, especially in developing countries.
The circular economy offers a solution that will drastically cut waste due to smart product design, reuse models, and longer product lifetimes.
2. Resource Scarcity:
Value critical raw materials such as lithium ( batteries), rare earths, irrigation, and fresh water to extract are getting harder and more costly. A closed loop helps to recycle these valuable resources that are already used with end-of-life goods, thereby putting less of a burden on the naturally limited resources.
3. Mitigation of Climate Change:
It is estimated that about 45 percent of carbon emissions in the world can be attributed to how we make and use our goods (in the estimation of the World Resources Institute). The core business of circular economy practices is cutting down on the new production demands and minimizing waste to drastically reduce emissions, and that is why it is one of the essential tools in killing climate change.
Circular Economy in Practice:
1. Fashion Industry:
The apparel industry has a bad reputation for pollution. The circular fashion promotes the design of clothing that has a goal to have a longer life, is resold, recycled, and even composted. Such companies as Patagonia, Levi, and Eileen Fisher have turned to the use of take-back programs to recycle used garments and minimize the amount of textile waste.
2. Electronics:
The percentage of e-waste per year due to electronics is more than 50 million tons. Some companies such as Fairphone and Dell are developing modular products that can easily be changed or fixed instead of buying new products. In the meantime, the Trade-In Program of Apple reanimates discarded devices and parts.
3. Construction:
With construction material, concrete, steel, and others included, play a big role in emissions and landfills waste. The circular economy also encourages the recycling of materials, modular, and unconstructed, reusable buildings. This system is becoming common over in Europe and few Asian countries.
4. Food Systems:
Approximately a third of the world food ended up in waste. Circular food systems are all about preventing waste by ensuring improved logistics, food donation schemes, composting and generating energy out of food waste using anaerobic digestion.
The Way People Can Assist in the Circular Economy:
It does not mean that you should be a policymaker or a business executive to participate in circular economy. These are some of the easy steps that can be done by individuals:
- Buy the used or refurbished products
- Decide on quality rather than quantity
- Repair, rather than replace
- Promote circular business brands
- Recycle and compost food waste
- Share, rent or borrow the things you do not use regularly
All these little efforts make up one larger system change, which further strengthens the sustainability movement on every level.
Conclusion:
The world is experiencing ever-increasing environmental issues and the circular economy promises to be an ambitious, realistic and gallant direction. We have to do more than recycle more, we have to redesign, to use, to reuse, and to dispose of everything better. Although the transition is not going to occur in one day, it is possible to consider how circular practices can benefit the planet and the economy in the future by adopting such practices today.
With the conversion to a circular economy, we would finally leave the cycle of waste and depletion behind us and would start developing a world where sustainability is no longer a dream, but a reality.
