Waste Equals Food A Case For A Circular Economy

At a philosophical level, humans have always believed that life is cyclical in nature—what goes around, comes around; or in more relevant terms, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Quite literally, waste generated from one process can well act as fodder for another process elsewhere. Why then do we continue to live our lives in this linear manner?

A linear economy is one where we take resources from our environment, use those resources to make something, and once we are done using what we had made, we dump it. In this case, we are not really taking responsibility for the damage we might be causing to the environment. An opposite and emerging concept is that of a circular economy. A simple definition of a circular economy is an economy which thinks of waste as a valuable resource and not an inevitable byproduct and cost of doing business. As a wise person once said, “Waste is a resource in the wrong place." Resource recovery lies at the core of the concept of circular economy, also known as a closed-loop economy.

If we were to start designing a product with the aim of closing the loop at every single point, we would arrive at an economy that would no longer be completely reliant on new, fresh resources; we would be able to make better use of our existing resources. Right from the start, a circular economy seeks to create products, buildings, communities, and systems that start off with wanting to create a positive impact rather than mitigate the negative impact. The best start would be to start using natural and biodegradable materials. We need to keep in mind that we do not have the luxury of creating any more waste, which means that every single item in a product or production cycle needs to have a second life. We need to inculcate a positive attitude—not less waste and fewer negative effects but more positive effects of regeneration and regrowth.