The circular economy is an economic model that emphasizes sustainability through the continual use and reuse of resources. It contrasts sharply with the traditional linear economy, which follows a take-make-discard pattern.
The circular economy concept promotes the creation of durable and reparable products and repairing, refurbishing, sharing, leasing and recycling them, along with their materials, in order to minimize both waste and damage to the environment. It also seeks to restore natural systems by using biodegradable materials that allow returning valuable nutrients to the environment, thereby supporting biodiversity and ecological health.
The shift towards a circular economy will depend on several things, especially supportive government policies, including tax breaks and other incentives, shifts in consumer behavior regarding consumption and waste, and the development and utilization of new and improved recycling technologies, such as molecular recycling, enzymatic recycling, chemical recycling, and recycling robots that utilize artificial intelligence.