Resource Depletion

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 ...

Planned Obsolescence 1 The Engineered Expiration – Part 1: How Designed Decay Became the Core Business Model 2 The Engineered Expiration – Part 2: Software Lock-Ins and the Digital Decay of Connected Devices 3 The Engineered Expiration – Part 3: Dismantling the Fix-It Culture Through Planned Repair Prevention 4 The Engineered Expiration – Part 4: From Corporate Profit to Corporate Crime: The Environmental Cost of Artificial Limits 5 The Engineered Expiration – Part 5: The Regulatory Tide: Right to Repair and the Global Push for Longevity ← Series Home The Paradox of Profitable Destruction Planned obsolescence, while a common business strategy designed to bolster private profit, simultaneously carries far-reaching ecological and social consequences. The practice creates an inherent tension because in the short term, manufacturers gain competitive advantage and extract maximum profit through continuous updated product models. Yet, this narrow focus is achieved at the expense of consumer interests and environmental sustainability, leaving the product prematurely obsolete and destined for the waste heap. This intersection of legal corporate activity leading to massive societal and ecological harm raises critical questions about corporate accountability. ...