- A ‘circular economy’ is an alternative to the traditional ‘linear economy’ in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them while in use, and then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of each service life.
- In a linear economy, we take resources, make new products and throw them away when they are no longer wanted.
- In a circular economy, we make new products to be more durable, repairable and recyclable, recover and reuse them (as much as possible), and make the most out of the valuable and finite resources already in circulation. We rethink the way products are designed, the materials we are selecting for their construction, and look to replicate the regenerative systems in nature.
- The Ellen MacArthur Foundation state that “the circular economy can address up to 45% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally – and countries are starting to incorporate circular considerations into their climate action plans.”
