Definition of CE varies from author to author and finding an agreed definition is similar to going after a needle in a haystack.
“As a matter of fact, the concept of a circular economy cannot be traced back to one single date or author, rather to different schools of thought..”- The Concept of Circular Economy: its Origins and its Evolution-Authored by Thibaut Wautelet – January 2018
The concept of CE first appeared to have been in 1848. “R.W. Hofman, the first President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, stated (in 1848)
“…in an ideal chemical factory there is, strictly speaking, no waste but only products. The better a real factory makes use of its waste, the closer it gets to its ideal, the bigger is the profit” (Lancaster 2002)
Even agencies functioning at global level find it hard to agree on a common definition. Making matters worse is that different departments functioning under the same agency defining CE in different ways.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe defines CE as:
“The circular economy is a new and inclusive economic paradigm that aims to minimize pollution and waste, extend product lifecycles, and enable broad sharing of physical and natural assets. It strives for a competitive economy that creates green and decent jobs and keeps resource use within planetary boundaries.”
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) defines CE as:
“A circular economy entails markets that give incentives to reusing products, rather than scrapping them and then extracting new resources. In such an economy, all forms of waste, such as clothes, scrap metal and obsolete electronics, are returned to the economy or used more efficiently.”
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization admits to finding multiple CE concepts:
“Although there are many conceptions of the circular economy, they all describe a new way of creating value, and ultimately prosperity, through extending product lifespan and relocating waste from the end of the supply chain to the beginning – in effect, using resources more efficiently by using them more than once. In a circular economy… materials for new products come from old products. As much as possible, everything is reused, re-manufactured or, as a last resort, recycled back into a raw material or used as a source of energy..”
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN’s global authority that sets the environmental agenda, views CE as:
“..an alternative economic model for exchange and production that seeks to decouple economic growth from material dependency. The idea is to increase resource efficiency use and reduce environmental impact at all stages of the product (goods and services) life cycle, reducing resource waste, ensuring the reduction of environmental impacts, while allowing us to meet our needs within planetary boundaries and developing the well-being of individuals..”
UNEP sports a dedicated circularity platform (buildingcircularity.org) which tries to visualize CE, and highlights that the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement can only be achieved by combining circular approaches with the current efforts on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Not only UN, even other global agencies appear to adapt the concept of CE as per their own operational foci.
“.. the value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible; waste and resource use are minimised, and resources are kept within the economy when a product has reached the end of its life, to be used again and again to create further value..”
The European Summit attempts to define CE as
“the conceptual framework of sustainable development. Its goal is the production of goods and services while at the same time reducing the consumption and wastage of raw materials, water and energy sources.” (www. circulareconomysummit.com)
UK’s WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Program) which envisions a world in which all resources can be used sustainably, defines CE as an “alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.”
What is clear is that the concept of CE is being seen by various agencies as how it fits their mandate –which is a pragmatic approach that can deliver on their CE engagements. Though definitions vary across agencies and groups, they all agree on CE not being a linear concept and in lowering material consumption via various processes and ultimately leading to sustainability.
