- "A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible."
Economic model that seeks to eliminate waste and increase sustainability by using resources more efficiently.
Cradle to Cradle Design: This is a design approach that aims to create products that have the ability to be recycled or upcycled at the end of their life cycle, rather than being discarded as waste.
Life Cycle Assessment: This is a tool that measures the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle, from production to disposal.
Closed Loop Systems: This refers to systems that minimize waste by recycling or upcycling materials at the end of their life cycle, thus creating a closed loop of production and consumption.
Biomimicry: This is a design approach that takes inspiration from nature to create sustainable solutions.
Sustainable Supply Chains: This refers to the sourcing of materials and components that are produced in a sustainable manner, ensuring that the full life cycle of a product is sustainable.
Circular Business Models: This refers to business models that are designed to operate in a circular economy, such as product-as-a-service, sharing economy, and closed-loop systems.
Sustainable Materials: This refers to materials that are produced in a sustainable manner, such as recycled, bio-based, and renewable materials.
Waste Management: This refers to the management of waste in a sustainable manner, such as through recycling, composting, and waste-to-energy systems.
Energy Efficiency: This refers to the efficient use of energy in all aspects of production and consumption.
Circular Cities: This refers to the application of circular economy principles to urban planning, such as sustainable transportation, green spaces, and sustainable building design.
Social Sustainability: This refers to ensuring equity, fairness, and social justice in all aspects of a circular economy, such as fair labor practices and community engagement.
Circular Finance: This refers to financial systems that support the transition to a circular economy, such as investment in sustainable materials and circular business models.
Closed-loop economy: This is a model where resources are kept in use for as long as possible, through reuse, repair, and recycling, with zero or minimal waste.
Cradle-to-cradle: This system aims to design and manufacture products that can be reused and recycled in perpetuity, without the need to extract new materials from the earth.
Biomimicry: This approach uses nature as a model to create sustainable products and processes that mimic the efficiency and circularity of natural ecosystems.
Industrial symbiosis: This model promotes the exchange of waste or byproducts between different companies or industries, with the aim of reducing waste and maximizing resource efficiency.
Product-as-a-service: This is a business model where products are leased or rented out to customers, rather than sold outright, with the manufacturer responsible for repair, maintenance, and end-of-life disposal.
Sharing economy: This model encourages the sharing of products and resources among individuals, such as car sharing or tool libraries, to reduce consumption and waste.
Upcycling: This is the process of transforming waste materials into higher-value products, by turning them into new and improved versions of themselves.
Regenerative economy: This model focuses on restoring natural capital and improving ecosystem health, by designing and managing economic systems that support and enhance the natural environment.
Zero waste: This is a philosophy and a set of principles that aim to eliminate waste by redesigning products, packaging, and systems to reduce consumption, increase recycling, and prevent waste in the first place.
- "CE aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution."
- "The three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems."
- "The idea and concepts of circular economy (CE) have been studied extensively in academia, business, and government over the past ten years."
- "CE has been gaining popularity because it helps to minimize emissions and consumption of raw materials, open up new market prospects and, principally, increase the sustainability of consumption and improve resource efficiency."
- "At a government level, CE is viewed as means of combating global warming as well as a facilitator of long-term growth."
- "By the year 2050, 9.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (equal to all current emissions from transportation), can be reduced by implementing circular economy strategies in five sectors: cement, aluminum, steel, plastics, and food."
- "In a circular economy, business models play a crucial role in enabling the shift from linear to circular processes."
- "Various business models have been identified that support circularity, including product-as-a-service, sharing platforms, and product life extension models, among others."
- "By contrast, a circular economy aims to transition from a 'take-make-waste' approach to a more restorative and regenerative system."
- "It employs reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling to create a closed-loop system, reducing the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions."
- "The circular economy aims to keep products, materials, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer, thus improving the productivity of these resources."
- "For example, industrial symbiosis is a strategy where waste from one industry becomes an input for another, creating a network of resource exchange and reducing waste, pollution, and resource consumption."
- "Similarly, circular cities aim to integrate circular principles into urban planning and development, fostering local resource loops and promoting sustainable lifestyles among their citizens."
- "Less than 10% of economic activity worldwide in 2022 and 2023 has been circular."