The Contested Circle: A Critical Roadmap to the Circular Economy
A critical examination of the circular economy’s promises, challenges, and systemic implications, exploring the transition from linear consumption to regenerative resource loops.
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The Contested Circle – Part 1: Beyond Take-Make-Waste: The Promise and Physics of Perfect Loops
The Contested Circle: A Critical Roadmap to the Circular Economy 1 The Contested Circle – Part 1: Beyond Take-Make-Waste: The Promise and Physics of Perfect Loops 2 The Contested Circle – Part 2: Green Growth's Illusion: Why Efficiency Alone Cannot Sustain the System 3 The Contested Circle – Part 3: The Systemic Choke Points: Overcoming the Economic and Logistical Barriers 4 The Contested Circle – Part 4: Quantifying the Decoupling: How Circularity Mitigates Carbon and Secures Supply 5 The Contested Circle – Part 5: The Mandate of Justice: Governance, Labor, and the Equitable Framework ← Series Home The Implosion of Linearity: Why the “Throw Away” Model Must End The prevailing economic structure, inherited from the Industrial Revolution, operates on a stark and finite logic: take, make, consume, throw away. This linear economic model functions as an open-ended material flow, relentlessly extracting vast quantities of cheap, easily accessible virgin materials, manufacturing products, and then discarding them as waste after a single, limited use. This systemic reliance on high material throughput has yielded significant economic growth but has proven fundamentally destructive to planetary systems. In 2022, the average European consumed 14.9 tonnes Average raw materials consumed per European in 2022
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The Contested Circle – Part 2: Green Growth's Illusion: Why Efficiency Alone Cannot Sustain the System
The Contested Circle – Part 2: Green Growth’s Illusion: Why Efficiency Alone Cannot Sustain the System The Ideological Comfort of Decoupling The circular economy has ascended to the forefront of global policy, business, and research agendas, largely predicated on a powerful and comforting narrative: that of sustainable growth. This narrative, often dubbed “Green Growth,” promises a win-win outcome where economic growth and environmental preservation are successfully reconciled, allowing the economy to hum nicely without wrecking the planet. The appeal is immense, suggesting that humanity can decouple economic activity from resource consumption and environmental impact simply by becoming more efficient and innovative.
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The Contested Circle – Part 3: The Systemic Choke Points: Overcoming the Economic and Logistical Barriers
The Contested Circle – Part 3: The Systemic Choke Points: Overcoming the Economic and Logistical Barriers The Gulf Between Ideal and Actuality The Circular Economy (CE) circulates widely as an idea and ideal, endorsed by major corporations and policymakers globally. Its advocates tout it as a regenerative system minimizing waste and maximizing resource utility. However, despite this broad endorsement, the actual implementation of the CE remains demonstrably limited and fragile. The gap between the transformative potential promised and the slow, fragmented reality of execution highlights several deeply rooted structural obstacles.
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The Contested Circle – Part 4: Quantifying the Decoupling: How Circularity Mitigates Carbon and Secures Supply
The Contested Circle – Part 4: Quantifying the Decoupling: How Circularity Mitigates Carbon and Secures Supply The Dual Imperative: Climate and Commerce The ascent of the Circular Economy (CE) is fundamentally rooted in its capacity to address the dual challenges of climate change and economic vulnerability. The traditional linear economy, through relentless material extraction and processing, contributes significantly to global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions; material extraction and use account for 70 percent of global GHG emissions.
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The Contested Circle – Part 5: The Mandate of Justice: Governance, Labor, and the Equitable Framework
The Contested Circle – Part 5: The Mandate of Justice: Governance, Labor, and the Equitable Framework The Unspoken Cost of Circulation The Circular Economy (CE) is widely championed as a pathway to a sustainable and equitable future, promising significant job creation and environmental protection. However, critics argue that the mainstream agenda, often dominated by technical and economic accounts, has a critical blind spot concerning social and environmental justice (EJ/SJ). The focus on material flows and efficiency metrics frequently overlooks how the costs and benefits of circularity are distributed, creating an ethical and governance imperative that must be proactively addressed.
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