Practical Sustainability Strategies, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 10The Need and Growth of a Circular Economy

Since the beginning of production and consumption, the economy has been based on a linear business model. It consisted of the manufacturing of a product, the use of the product, and followed by the eventual disposal of the product. It was subsequently given the name linear economy.

It often leads to a system that is inefficient and costly and that harms the environment or depletes natural resources. For example, mining metals, from gold to coal, can spoil ecosystems and disrupt nearby communities. Making steel from ore requires a large amount of energy, which produces globe-warming carbon dioxide. A by-product of the linear model is material waste, which takes up space and may include contaminants. Trash ends up in undesirable places. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch [1] is only the most well-known example of global-scale plastic pollution, yet products like steel and plastic can be reused, refurbished, and recycled to capture untapped value.

However, it is becoming worse. Due to the exponential growth of the global population, an increase of over five billion people since 1940, and the subsequent consumption of our natural resources, this linear economy can no longer be acceptable. As of 2018, the world is consuming the equivalent of 1.7 earths of its natural resources [2]. What is necessary today is a circular economy, which consists of take, make, use, reuse, and reuse again and again.

KALUNDBORG SYMBIOSIS

One ...