Author: Petrescu Ramona Cristina; West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Government and Communication Sciences, International Development and Management of Global Affairs MA
The reality of humankind’s impact on the environment has been obvious for quite some time, yet it is only recently that the true degree to which our actions influence the planet and other species living alongside us has been ascertained. With the ever-increasing human population and the perpetual desire for “growth” currently prevalent in our societies, it comes as no surprise that waste has begun to affect the climate and the resources we have once believed to be endless. The culture of boundless growth that humankind has been courting in recent decades has led to a shift in mentality towards the products we purchase, own and use, lessening their value depending on active trends or similar new products being released into the market soon after their predecessors. Although this kind of culture may have seemed feasible in the past, present concerns about climate change and the possibility of an incoming shortage of resources have changed the perception towards whether our habits are in fact proper, or whether they ought to be changed. Where overconsumption, the obsolescence of goods and throwaway culture, three staples of the linear economy we have become accustomed to, have once brought an era of prosperity and abundance, nowadays the very same concepts threaten to force the planet, and therefore our species as well, into an era of hardships.
The linear economy our society has grown used to perpetuating represents a system with a clear beginning, middle and end, in which people purchase products, use them minimally and then throw them away, a practice that results in massive heaps of polluting waste growing all over the planet; waste which cannot decompose or which requires several years, decades or even centuries in order to do so. This waste exacerbates environmental damage, worsens the climate and severely hurts the planet’s biodiversity. Linear economic thinking does possess its benefits, such as the possibility for mass-production, lower costs and less labor involved, and it’s those benefits that have kept it as the staple, yet despite the advantages it may bring, a linear economy is not sustainable on a planet with a rapidly increasing population and a rapidly decreasing source of raw materials. The extraction of natural resources has reached an accelerated pace in which they are in constant demand even though they cannot be replenished, and the process in which products are being manufactured ensures that they cannot be reused in the making of another product once they have served their purpose and have been thrown away, nor can they be fixed and reused in the way the initial, bought product was meant to be used. This mismanagement of resources not only forces its customers into buying more, but by doing so it also degrades the soil, drives species extinct, pollutes the oceans, fells the forests and causes all manners of natural disasters. Moreover, a linear economy leads to global inequalities in human societies, as it is reliant on cheap labor and on the mining of resources that are more abundant in certain countries rather than others. The idea of perpetual growth based on limitless resources is not viable in a reality founded on finite resources, and as a consequence it is imperative that unsustainable practices are promptly abandoned and quickly replaced with sustainable ones. With this goal in mind, the concept of a circular economy has taken shape in more recent years, aiming to deal with all of the abovementioned pressing issues.
In contrast to the linear economy, a circular economy is based on three core principles: to reduce, reuse and recycle. More specifically, waste is minimized by designing and manufacturing products which can later be repaired and reused or recycled into a different product, thus eliminating the over-extraction of raw materials by reusing the secondary raw materials found in the already existing products. By reusing existing materials, the pace at which raw materials are being mined slows, allowing for the better conservation of finite resources, whereas the pollution brought forth by dumping grounds lessens significantly since far fewer products have to be tossed away. These garbage heaps, in turn, can be broken down by natural processes in a much shorter time than the products present on a linear economy market, because they are designed with non-toxic biodegradable materials in mind. The goal of a circular economy is to make the most use of the finite resources the planet possesses by focusing on creating products which will not only benefit the environment, but also lengthen the amount of time customers can utilize each product in kind through either prolonging the life and viability of the products during the manufacturing stage, or by offering the possibility to repair those products instead of throwing them away once they start leaving much to be desired due to their wear and tear.
Products in a circular economy are designed for durability and repairability, are granted an extended lifespan and are created from sustainable materials. This ensures that the value of products is maximized while the waste created in the process and aftermath is kept at a minimum. Moreover, as a circular economy represents a major shift from the current linear economy norm, an added benefit of the circular economy is that it requires, and therefore induces, creativity in the companies looking to maintain their presence in the marketplace. In order to compete with sustainable products from rival companies, each company must make an effort to enhance their own efficiency, bring about innovation and further optimize their own concepts. For example, whereas in the linear economy a bed meant for children would only be as large as the child is presumed to be, and would therefore require the family to double their waste by purchasing another bed once the child grows taller; in the circular economy the bed would allow families to continue using it even when the child grows older and thus taller, by providing them with a built-in option to expand the bed as they see fit according to their needs. Likewise, whereas in a linear economy every product is meant to operate in a consumerist-centric market in which each item is short-lived and disposable; in a circular economy not only would the same product receive an extended lifespan during the manufacturing stage, but the companies producing it would find it in their best interest to help their customers preserve the product, for example by offering them recommendations on how to best handle, wash or store it.
Another key characteristic of the circular economy lies in its packaging process, which differs from linear packaging in that it reduces the overall packaging involved in each product to the minimum necessary degree, utilizes recycled materials and ensures that the packaging is compostable or recyclable, all the while still fulfilling its original purpose of preserving the product within. In certain cases, depending on what the product is, there may not even be a need for packaging at all and therefore this stage would be skipped entirely. This leads to a great reduction in the amount of packaging waste and pollution that is prevalent in a linear economy.
Once the product has served its purpose and can no longer be used, a fundamental circular economy trait ensures that the product is collected and reintroduced into the manufacturing cycle through the use of take-back programs which recover used goods and send them back to their manufacturer or to the nearest recovery service for the same brand of products. This process reduces the need for raw materials by reusing the ones present in the damaged product, and guarantees that the product won’t end in a landfill. It is also imperative for companies existing in a circular economy to harness and analyze data based on their products’ efficiency and sustainability, therefore tracking their environmental impact at every step and aiming to optimize their products in order to achieve the least possible amount of environmental harm while maintaining their products’ maximum performance.
The necessity of a shift from the linear economy towards a circular economy is evident, as are the advantages of such a significant change, but there are nonetheless certain challenges standing in the way of a circular economy’s implementation. Firstly, the implementation of a circular economy demands high investment costs in the beginning, as wholly new technologies and manufacturing processes are required, and there is currently limited infrastructure that can support a full switch from linear to circular. Secondly, a circular economy relies on collaboration between various stakeholders, as this is essential for each stage of a product’s life from the obtainment of materials, to the production, tracking and eventual disposal of the product, and therefore requires constant conversation and coordination between a multitude of parties involved. Thirdly, there is a limited awareness among the general public when it comes to the benefits and desideratum of the circular economy, which can cause an apprehension of new products and a tendency to stick to the familiar, which in turn can compel companies to keep to their existing practices wherever possible. Finally, a multitude of policies and regulations in several stages of a product’s life are catered towards the linear economy processes, and thus for a circular economy to properly begin and thrive, many such policies and regulations must be revised and updated, which represents a quite hefty process.
However, despite the existence of obstacles in the path of a full transfer towards a circular economy, none of them are an impossibility. In regards to the high investment costs and required infrastructure, it is imperative to stress the long-term benefits which would follow after these obstacles are overcome. In regards to the daunting process of collaboration, it is key to advocate for transparency and mutually beneficial partnerships at all levels. In regards to the lack of awareness or the presence of apprehension, the problem can be solved through education about the topic and through the highlighting of personal benefits that such a change would bring, as could be, for example, the increase in job opportunities. Lastly, although there are already some regulatory targets set in place for the global shift towards a circular economy, it is crucial to continue advocating for more regulations of this kind, including through the addition of incentives, and it is equally crucial to hold those who refuse to adhere to the aforementioned regulations accountable.
The shift from a linear economy to a circular economy is feasible, and also indispensable for the well-being of the planet and all the species reliant on it. As the human population increases, so does the waste associated with every individual, and in turn so does the pollution the planet is constantly forced to endure. This pollution can, and does, lead to an increase in natural disasters which endangers all the inhabitants of the planet, and the practices associated with it threaten a future depletion of our most important resources, a loss after which a major change in our lifestyles would be required nonetheless. As such, it is vital to recognize the shortcomings of the linear economy, the finitude of our natural resources and the worsening effects of the man-made changes in climate posthaste, and to push for an active collaboration with one another in order to switch to a more sustainable economy while the possibility is still presented to us. The circular economy should not represent an intimidating, ground-shaking process which humankind must drudge through, but rather it should represent the promise and possibility of a better future for humankind and the planet alike.
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