Circular Economy: Reshaping the Landscape of Sustainability

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed.” — Gandhi

As the world moves on forging ahead in the spheres of technology and innovation, people take little time to pause and introspect on the sacrifices that have been made by not only them but also nature. The works of man have caused a deep cut into not only the Earth’s ecology but also it’s diverse ecosystems. The panel discussion held on the 30th of October headed by Dinesh Israni, the founder of Naman Angels Foundation highlighted a way that all of us could contribute into healing the Earth. Circular Economy as the name suggests is the process of reusing/recycling/reusing/refurbishing materials and substances in an infinite loop to minimize waste and benefit the earth by reducing it’s exploitation by a significant amount.

What is Circular Economy ?

Circular Economy refers to the term used to describe economic models that are focused on minimizing waste and promoting the reusability and recyclability of finite resources and materials such as raw materials and energy. Famous Environmental Economist Allan Kneese first coined the term Circular Economy in 1988 in “The Economics of Natural Resources”.

Circular Economy revolves around designing products that have improved reusability/durability and repairability. The aim being to create an infinite loop wherein resources are used for as long as possible so that it creates minimum stress on our Mother Earth her limited resources. At the same time Circular Economy also promotes the use of innovative technology and unique practices to circumvent the use of substances that can only be used once. It aims to eradicate the “Use and Throw” culture that was promoted during the Industrial Revolution.

Why Circular Economy ?

Everyday, as we progress the day we use a number of electronic appliances but fail to realize what happens to them once they stop working. Imagine the amount of waste generated the entire world each day. Taking even
India for the instance we are the third largest generators of E-Waste raking up over 16 lakh metric tons of E-Waste in the past year alone of which only 33% was safely collected and processed. One can only imagine the amount of damage the environment was dealt by this.

Benefits of Circular Economy.

Circular Economy is truly a gift that keeps on giving in ways illustrated as follows:

1. Improving Efficiency of Resources: Circular Economy aims to reuse resources as many times as possible. Thus increasing their efficiency it aims to reduce the pressure on Earth’s non-renewable raw materials as much as possible by keeping resources in use for longer.
2. Reduction of Waste: Waste and its management is a complete can of worms that demands too man y human resources. Places such as landfills could be better used for building other structures. Circular Economy in its truest form aims to completely annihilate the concept of waste by reusing everything.
3. Conserving the Environment: Employing Circular Economy will incredibly benefit the environment owing to the fact that it will remove and rather more realistically minimize the dependency of humans from earth for sources of non-renewable materials. Contributing to a more healthy environment.
4. Extend Product Lifespan: As more and more companies would accept Circular Economy they would try to elongate the lifespan of their products as much as possible which would lead to a win-win situation for the manufacturers as well as the consumers.
5. Savings for Manufacturers: As waste is almost entirely eliminated manufacturers and companies will have to spend less resources managing waste and thus improve resource management and operational efficiency.
6. Social benefits: Circular Economy would lead to an increase in accessibility of goods of higher quality and lower price for everyone.
7. Promotion of Creativity: Problems bring opportunities and innovations. Similarly integrating a Circular Economy system would bring in more jobs and make people think about new ways to solve the age old problem of waste.

How to - Circular Economy ?

Bringing in a Circular Economy will be a herculean task for sure but everyone can make their tiny contributions just as even oceans are made from a single drop of water. People from all age can contribute in the following ways:

• Reduce/Reuse/Recycle: we must use our devices and products for as long as possible.
• Try to repair products and get them fixed rather than constantly buying new ones.
• Advocate for sustainable policies and raise your voice against the increasing problem of waste and its management.
• Actively make responsible choices in buying of only recylcable devices/materials.

Conclusion:

To conclude I’d like to reiterate the importance of Circular Economy in times like these where the growing issue of waste and its management stands as a titan before us as if a volcano about to erupt. We must all combine our forces as a civilization to beat this pressing problem by employing circular economy in as many forms and in as many places as possible. Lets us as a species rise to fight this growing tyrant that is waste by employing Circular Economy !

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet