A circular economy is an economy that works to reduce waste to the smallest amount possible because everything is continually reused to the best of the firm’s ability and stops the linear reduce-reuse-recycle pattern that inevitably creates more waste. The linear economy does not work because when a product’s life cycle ends so abruptly, it makes waste pile up. Unfortunately, people do not recycle as much as they should, and even if a product is recycled, it usually loosed much of its functionality and only goes through one recycling cycle. A circular economy solves this and is heralded as the best solution for the environment from an economic and supply chain lens as it gives as many pieces of an item a reusable and life functional life for as long as possible.

These kinds of economies work very simply. According to the reading, there are three simple steps: designing out waste, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating living systems. Firms that employ this method live by these steps to make things as sustainable as they can. Designing out waste essentially means that all portions of a product have been engineered not to harm the human experience in any way. This includes the emission of unnecessary greenhouse gases and traffic congestion. This could look like a company utilizing electric cars to get materials from one place to another or not using plastic in packaging but opting for something else. The second step is really just about encouraging as many reusable parts of products as possible to give these materials a long and useful life. The third step is really about focusing on using renewable resources and not squandering the limited supply of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources.

This economy goes hand in hand with the concept of cradle-to-cradle business models. It essentially seems like a different name for a circular economy but on a smaller scale within a firm. The amount of businesses, especially within the European Union, working towards a cradle-to-cradle approach is incredibly promising and inspiring. Getting to read business plans gave me a new level of respect for companies that make this a main aim.

At the end of the day, society needs to realize that recycling is not working. SO few things actually get recycled. effectively ad it is a pointless and fruitless system. Slowly transitioning over to a circular economy is the only chance at rea hope society has to beat the climate crisis and start rehabilitating our planet to a point where wildfires are not globally catastrophic anymore.