When it comes to sustainability issues, in the past environmentalists, governments, and businesses have focused on reduce-reuse-recycle. However the present shows this is not the most effective sustainable approach. The results for only focusing on reduce-reuse-recycle have shifted environmentalists to priorities a circular economy instead. Essentially, a circular economy is an industrial system that is purposefully designed to be restorative. Companies need to be focusing on having more sustainable procedures, instead of only thinking about the end result. Typically, companies have a more linear process. This entails a take-make-consume-throw away procedure. This is not sustainable  because when the product has been used and the consumer is done it ends up in a landfill typically. Unlike a linear economy, a circular economy is closed. This means waste is reduced as little as possible because anything that is produced is transferred and used somewhere else. This is a continuous pattern. The release of greenhouse gasses, all pollution and traffic congestion are all factored out in a circular economy. The products are  designed to be durable, resued, remanufactured, and recycled. This helps to keep the products circulating as long as they possibly can to be the most sustainably effective. A circular economy encourages products that can be circulating instead of just using them all up. Along with this, fossil fuels and non-renewable energy are avoided. Instead a circular economy reaches towards using and preserving renewable resources. Valuable nutrients are returned back to the soil to improve the environment. The concept of a circular economy is necessary as we progress as a society. If we continue using the linear economy, resources will become very limited and the consequence of our actions will affect future generations. As the world population continues to grow we need to be more considerate of the environment and how our actions will affect it. Studies show that we are throwing away resources that could be remanufactured at an alarming rate. The United Nations has informed us that “global resource extraction has more than tripled since 1970, over 90% of raw materials are not reused.” A circular economy is not only beneficial to the environment but also the consumers and economy. For consumers they are provided with high quality sustainable services, reduce ownership costs, and improve health. This system boosts economic growth, reduces cost of materials, and creates new jobs. Overall a circular economy is the future for companies and needs to be implemented faster.