The circular economy is the response to the linear economy, the economic structure that has taken us to where we are now, our oceans choking in plastic detritus, the air in our cities filthy, and facing a climate emergency that threatens to sweep away our way of life.
The circular economy essentially defines a new economic model that exists in contrast to the linear economy’s approach of produce, use, dispose, and then attempt to mitigate the damage. That is where we are now. Instead, the circular economy seeks to compensate for our impact right at the start of the process of making goods or selling services, rather than at the end, when it is probably too late to act.