Five Steps Toward a Circular Economy: Reducing Waste and Maximising Resources
The world is moving towards a more sustainable future with a shift towards a circular economy, which aims to reduce waste and environmental impact by keeping materials in use for longer. This approach is particularly important for packaging, which is often made from valuable resources. In this article, we explore the benefits of a circular economy and the five steps we can take to achieve it. By reusing and recycling valuable resources, we can reduce environmental pressures, decrease emissions, and minimise waste.
For decades, the world has operated according to the linear economy model, which is based on the assumption that natural resources are abundant, easy to source and cheap to discard.¹
However, this approach is unsustainable, so many around the world are striving to achieve a circular economy instead. The circular model aims to maintain the utility of things we make, keeping materials in the loop instead of continuing to take-make-and-waste.²
In terms of packaging, the circular approach recognizes that every box, can and jar we use is made from valuable resources. By reusing or recycling these materials, we can extend that value, putting them back to use while minimizing the environmental pressures involved in extracting resources, decreasing fossil fuels and emissions used in manufacturing and reducing the amount of trash that ends up in landfills or the ocean.
It’s important to note that the circular economy model is a means to an end, not an end in itself. By evaluating the life cycle of this approach, we can learn more about the consequences of implementing this model and determine which measures will lead to better environmental outcomes.
Five steps toward keeping materials in the loop
Evolving our approach to packaging is a combined effort, involving everything from educating consumers to expanding infrastructure to specifying how the materials in a product should be returned to the circular economy after use. ³
Creating a circular economy requires multiple steps:
1) Reducing the use of packaging material in general, and virgin material in particular, while maintaining adequate protection.
2) Scaling reusable and refillable systems to eliminate the need for disposable packaging.
3) Redesigning packaging by pioneering alternative materials to facilitate recycling.
4) Supporting recycling infrastructure that helps shape a waste-free future.
5) Rethinking behaviors to drive change for companies, organisations and consumers.
Each of these steps can go a long way toward preventing waste, but to capture the full value of the materials we use, we’ll need everyone to commit to meeting these goals.
DID YOU KNOW?
The circular economy could yield up to $4.5 trillion in economic benefits by 2030.4 It could also reduce 80% of end-of-life plastic disposal by 2050 compared to today. 5
Learn more by downloading the full content here.
Sources
1. World Economic Forum, Circular Economy and Material Value Chains
2. SYSTEMIQ. ReShaping Plastics: Pathways to a Circular, Climate Neutral Plastics System in Europe (2022)
3. Ellen Macarthur: Circular economy introduction
4. Ellen Macarthur: The circular economy in detail
5. Ellen Macarthur, Eliminate waste and pollution
