What is the Circular Economy?
Have you ever wondered how the current standard of living is the best it has ever been?
Unfortunately, the rate at which we are consuming natural resources to sustain such a standard of living is dangerous, more so with the ever increasing population. This linear economy adds immense pressure on our ecosystems, which will not be sustainable long term.
This has led to massive consequences for the environment as well as ourselves. The building of dense urban jungles, a lot more car ownership, and a huge consumption of natural resources tend to negatively affect our quality of life and put the environment at risk.
Luckily, times have changed and so have people with a more eco-conscious generation reimagining the global economy and how it can function in a way that least affects the environment and our quality of life, which is becoming known as the circular economy. The circular economy is a sustainable economic model that seeks to transform all sectors in a sustainable manner by reusing and recycling waste materials as much as possible.
Why Do We Need the Circular Economy?
The circular economy aims at improving resource productivity by keeping resources and products in use for as long as possible through recycling, remanufacturing, repair, reuse, and recovery. This allows the environment to recover and recuperate from the exploitation that it was previously subjected to. This implements the saying of doing more with less. Research indicates that the consumption habits of America waste most that we manufacture, which in turn ends up in landfills.
For example, did you know that Americans disposed 141 million mobile devices in 2010 alone?
Operating in this manner is bound to lead to failure. The circular economy offers new usage efficiency in all industries. It is vital that our economy changes and adapts to the current times to survive.
How the Circular Economy is a Solution for Sustainability
The circular economy encourages closed loop recycling, which strives to reuse and recycle waste as much as possible and manufacture new products without altering any of the properties of the original material. This economic model seeks more value from existing materials that are already in the system by prolonging their use as much as possible so that we gain more value by extracting less.
The circular economy’s goal is to allow prosperity to continue rising while extracting and consuming less minerals, oil, and other natural resources from our planet. Companies can rethink and replan their consumption, waste, materials, and return-systems on an impressive scale. Businesses can help by reducing their carbon footprint but can also earn a few more bucks for recycling and reusing resources. Employing recycling equipment such as trash chutes, shredders, balers, etc. in the premises can help in making recycling and waste management process better and efficient. The ever-increasing pressure on our natural resources has led to an increased resource scarcity, and industries should change their way of operating before it is too late.
Contributing Author: Erich Lawson, Compactor Management Company
Erich Lawson is very passionate about the environment and is an advocate of effective recycling. He writes on a wide array of topics to inform readers on how modern recycling equipment can be used by industries to reduce monthly wastage bills and increase recycling revenue. You can learn more about environment saving techniques by visiting his blog on Compactor Management Company.
