Circular Economy

A system of production and consumption, which is essentially a closed loop of the flow of material, in which there is no waste due to continuous reuse, recycling, recovery of materials, restoration of depleted areas and resources and regeneration to support future inputs to the circular economy. Whether a completely closed loop, without any wastage, is feasible, is open to argument, however, the concept underlies a desire to achieve a sustainable economy, environment and society.

(Further reading: Paul Ekins, Teresa Domenech, Paul Drummond, Raimund Bleischwitz, Nick Hughes, Lorenzo Lotti, (2019), ‘The Circular Economy: What, Why, Hoe and Where’, OECD https://www.oecd.org/cfe/regionaldevelopment/Ekins-2019-Circular-Economy-What-Why-How-Where.pdf)