4 min read
The terms ‘linear’ and ‘circular’ economy refer to different ideas of how we produce and consume things. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. However, the circular economy is increasingly being referred to as a way to support sustainability and economic growth.
What is the Linear Economy?
The traditional linear economy follows the “take-make-waste” process. Raw materials are collected and made into products until they can no longer be used. They then are discarded as waste because their economic value has been exhausted.
In a world of growing populations and limited resources, the linear economy exhausts raw materials, resulting in CO2 emissions. It’s estimated that 68% of raw materials are non-renewable meaning at some point we will run out of these resources. The overall global impact todate is dramatic - natural resources are being depleted by an estimated 45% annually.
In our daily life we tend to give little or no thought to the resources used to make the products we consume. Even fewer of us think about what happens to them when we no longer need them. Excluding the more expensive items like houses and cars, when something breaks we all have the tendency to buy a new version. The result of this is ever growing landfills. Simply put, many of the non-expensive items that we use are not made for reuse, repair, refurbishment, or able to be manufactured. (Ministry For the Environment)
What is the Circular Economy?
In contrast to the take-make-waste process the linear economy follows, the circular economy aims to drastically reduce waste by keeping resources in use for as long as possible. In doing this the maximum value is extracted from the resource. This is achieved by recovering and regenerate products/materials at the end of each service life (forming a circular, hence the "circular economy”) (MFE).
It’s designed on 3 basic principles: (Ellen Macarthur)
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