Circular Economy

by Grace Y. (12)

The circular economy is a model based on the very framework of nature. It makes production cyclical, repurposing materials after their use, or letting the materials return to their natural source through biodegradation. A circular economy is much more sustainable than a linear economy, as it reduces the risk of having finite resources run out.

When it comes to executing the successful shift to circularity and a selfsufficient system, a major part would be building infrastructure to support the shift. We would need to build infrastructure to help manufacture biodegradable materials and reprocess materials to be used again. Governmental institutions could be responsible for targeting specific products, like chip bags, cans, and electronics. As a government overseeing multiple companies producing these items, they could implement task forces to try to shift the product to be more renewable or biodegradable.

This makes the government the most responsible institution when it comes to managing the shift. When handled by the government rather than privatized, the strategy could be to target products instead of businesses. The outworking of this would likely involve laws and incentives to regulate businesses producing these products, shifting them towards the circular economy.

Additionally, a circular economy could be a key aspect of climate change policy. While the United Nations may have some success through climate conferences, often it is hard to implement policies that target businesses specifically, making them largely ineffective beyond simply compelling countries to do so on their own. Therefore, the UN as an institution concerning the global circular economy is mainly concerned with pushing this to the forefront of the fight against climate change and getting countries to set their individual targets.