Circular economy - the way forward to sustainable development

Abstract

Concept of recirculation of resources has been discussed in the Stockholm Conference. Based on that concept, recently the policy makers, researchers, major global companies and implementers are attracted and increased their attention towards transition from the existing linear economy model to a circular one. After years of growing income inequality, concerns about technology-driven displacement of jobs, and rising societal discord globally, the combined health and economic shocks of 2020 have put economies into freefall, disrupted labour markets and fully revealed the inadequacies of our social contracts. A new circular economy model is needed to build truly sustainable businesses –that is recognized by the business leaders gathering at the World Economic Forum. Without urgent action, global waste will increase by 70% on current levels by 2050, according to the World Bank’s “What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050” report. The global annual waste generation is expected to jump to 3.4 billion tons over the next 30 years, up from 2.01 billion tons in 2016. In 2016, the world generated 242 million tons of plastic waste or 12% of all solid waste. Out of over 300 million tons of plastics produced every year, nearly 8 million tons are dumped into the oceans as plastic waste globally, and this will be doubled by 2025 at current rates of consumption and production, if no action is taken up to curb it. The 3R and circular economy are the way of rethinking our approach to waste. The portion of the write-up is excerpts from the book, CircularEconomy: Global Perspective, S. K. Ghosh, 2020, Springer Nature, gives a glimpse of the circular economy and its need.