Introduction : Circular economy is a production and consumption model, which ensures sustainable growth over time. Having a circular economy helps us to drive optimization of resources, reduce consumption of raw material and recover waste by recycling or giving it a second life as a new product.
Business waste disposal
So the aim of a circular economy is to make most of the material resources available to us by applying the basic principles of reduce, reuse and recycle.
Understanding the difference between circular economy and linear economy
To sum up the linear economy model in a few words, we extract, produce, consume and discard. So the society in which we live means that the pace of consumption is accelerating a model, which is fast but unsustainable for the planet.
Whereas the circular economy works on establishing a more sustainable product and consumption model in which raw materials are kept longer in production cycles and can be used repeatedly, therefore generating less waste.
Some real life scenarios of circle economy around us
In textiles and fashion there are initiatives, which employ regenerative agriculture to produce organic cotton and other natural fibers using natural coloring and dye, thus ensuring higher quality for consumers and environment.
Plastic Metal Recycling facility
In buildings and constructions circular solutions can include reducing virgin material, reusing existing material in circulations or substituting carbon intensive material for regenerative alternatives like timber.
Why Circular Economy is important for our planet
A scary study has shown that we are already using more than the available amount of earth’s natural resources. It’s important to talk about some statistics like in the past 2 decades alone, material consumption has risen by over 65% globally and will reach 95.1 billion metric tons just in 2019. By the same year, an estimated 13% of the food destined for human consumption was lost because of harvesting and another 17% was wasted at household, food service and retail levels. And not to forget, the electronic waste has reached 7.3 kg per capita in 2019 and the majority is not managed in a sound way, which harms the environment and the health.
Eco friendly Appliance recycling
So these statistics are a testimony to just how important it becomes to transform the way we use and respect our finite resources. Studies show that in order to return to the safe limits of consumption, we need to reduce global material extraction and consumption by a third.
Countries that have adopted Circular Economy working model and working on it
- Kosova is supporting innovative solutions for start ups and SME which includes the development of a mobile app for identifying environmental pollution and misconduct in urban areas.
- Ghana is working to improve urban waste management by supporting entrepreneurs who have been building houses made of recycled plastic waste.
- The Philippines went as far as enacting a bill which requires large manufacturers to limit the use of plastic packages and pay for the cost of managing plastic waste.
- Mexico is working to better their circular economy solutions with a climate actions plan. They are doing so by developing and implementing training programs for subnational authorities to identify circular economy actions which will contribute towards the roadmap for implementing the country’s updated NDC.
Endeavor Recyclers has been committed to its principles of the circular economy, focusing on minimizing the environmental footprint of industrial processes
Conclusion : With climate changes and the resources slowly starting to dry up, it becomes more and more crucial to lean towards a circular economy, as it’s imperative in today’s time for us to focus on sustainability and greener tomorrow for a better green future for our next generation.
