In general, the globe is faced with a deplorable situation of diminishing supply of natural resources and our ecological footprint faces a failure to balance with the biocapacity footprint. Among the many factors accounting to this are that, on the one hand, the demand for resources has increased exponentially since the second half of the 20th century due to population growth. This has led to over consumption which adversely has caused exceedance of some planetary boundaries. On the other hand, emissions of green house gases and waste disposal such as plastics have caused damage to the ecosystem. Consequently, resource scarcity has since issued. This has resulted in rising and increasing volatility of resource prices. Business as usual would plunge the world economy into depression.
Circular economy, however, emerges as the real solution in sight that has universal appeal providing a positive direction for the future world economy. Circular economy is a paradigm where everything is “healthy food” for something else, in other words, it means running the economy like nature run its business. This is an approach where waste and pollution are designed out, products and materials are kept in use for longer, and natural systems can regenerate. It opposes the linear model of producing and consuming as much as possible or put simply, produce and dispose.
Covid19 has taught the world a big lesson that there are so many things that control the world that did not exist some years ago which can test our systems! Therefore, in building back better economies and to sustain resource utilization, the corporate world has a responsibility to collaborate on circular economy in terms of policy development, innovation, and risk tolerance, etc.
Application of the circular economy in the plastic sector
Every year, the world originates tones of plastic waste that ends up in landfills and the oceans (Sverko. G., et al 2020). Left to continue, oceans will have more plastics than fish and other marine resources! Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) is leading a platform that is helping to translate commitment to moving waste plastics into tangible strategies and investible action plans. GPAP is turning the tide of plastic waste around! Through collaboration and collective efforts of a host of technical leaders, engineers, scientists, and practitioners working together, a closing the loop on plastic waste is being accomplished. To foster partnerships, GPAP has a pilot project with Accra, Ghana. Here is where the use of circular economy principle of - "waste and pollution designed out" is being implemented. The waste plastics are reprocessed into products such as pavement blocks, plastic ceiling boards and plastic floor tiles, etc. (Debrah, et al 2021) This is monetizing waste for profit! Materials being recycled are cleaning up the environment and preventing waste from entering the environment (oceans). Creation of new products from wastes at less energy expenditure, creation of jobs through clean up and new products production, and sustainability of the marine and terrestrial habitats become the value of circularity. Without a doubt, circular economy is a real economic recovery paradigm in sight!
References
Debrah, J. K., Vidal, D. G. and Dinis, M. A. P. (2021) 'Innovative use of plastic for a clean and sustainable environmental management: Learning cases from Ghana, Africa', Urban Science, 5(1), pp. 12.
Sverko Grdic, Z., Krstinic Nizic, M. and Rudan, E. (2020) 'Circular economy concept in the context of economic development in EU countries', Sustainability, 12(7), pp. 3060.
https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/