Our new reality: Circular economy
What are the problems that threaten our Planet?
Our current production and consumption patterns demand for resources 60% more than the earth’s capacity to regenerate itself. That’s equivalent to using the resources of 1.7 Earths.
This demand for resources is creating many environmental and systemic problems.
Loss of biodiversity is about 69% of the wildlife in the last 50 years. Today, 90% of biodiversity loss is due to the extraction and processing of natural resources.
67% of the green house gas emissions are associated with material management; intervension is critical if we want to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees C.
Our consumption patterns are also very problematic.
- 4% of the products turn into waste within weeks.
- 18-24 aged wear newly purchased clothing for only 1-5 times.
- 50 million tons of electronic waste is produced annually – which translates to an amount greater than all commercial airplanes ever built.
- In Europe, 60% of the offices are not utilized and cars are utilized (on the road, driving) by only 5%.
These consumption patterns, about 1 kg per person daily, result in 2 billion tons of household waste, of which only 33% is landfilled environmentally.
This is a big ecological footprint. We have an urgent call for action.
Why is Circular Economy important to society now?
Circular economy defines certain principles that we need to adopt immediately in order to stop this dependency on the planet’s existing resources.
It is NOT recycling economy – recycling only extends the time that resources g oto waste. In circular economy, on the other hand, resources stay in the value chain endlessly.
Currently we are 7.2% circular in adopting these principles.
On the other hand, the opportunity for business going towards Circular Economy is immense. We talk about $12 trillion net new revenue for global GDP. All types of businesses should be take share of these opportunities while mitigating the ESG risks that threaten their sustainability.