• Cradle to Cradle: Remarking the way we make things
• Walter Stahel – Performance Economy
• Waste to Wealth: The circular economy advantage – Peter Lacy & Jakob Rutqvist
• Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist – Kate Raworth
• The Circular Economy: A user’s guide – Walter R. Stahel

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• The world has finite resources
  The concept of limits to growth, refers to the finite nature of the ecosystem to absorb waste and replenish raw material to sustain the economy. The economy is only a part of the larger ecosystem, and the ecosystem is finite, non-growing and in terms of materials, defined in volume or in other words, closed. Although we see certain natural resources such as solar energy being open, the solar flow is also not growing. Therefore, there are clear limits to growth in the ecological system.
• Resource extraction for production cannot continue indefinitely
  Extraction of finite resources (mining minerals and precious metals), disposal of one-time consumables (clothing/packaging) and energy production and consumption damages the planet.
  We consume virgin resources for production, and most of these are non-renewable. Waste going to landfill is equivalent to economic resources going to a grave yard, and each resource has a value, which makes each kg going as waste to be identified as lost economic value. Waste harms the environment, and landfills create future environmental liabilities. Incineration requires energy to be spent on resource destruction and emits harmful emissions which need to be neutralized, scrubbed or diluted before release. Even recycling as a repurposing strategy comes at great cost, with having to spend energy and resources just to revive other resources back.
  Overall renewal happens at a much slower rate and intensity compared to consumption, depleting natural resources and accumulating unwanted resources (waste).
  Renewal can happen at a similar rate to consumption, only if what needs to happens to resources after consumption can be pre-planned and pre-programmed. That is what circular economy intends to do.

Circular economy is a resource management strategy for the planet.
CE and climate change are related and need integrated strategy
To make transition to a non-renewable energy, resource management becomes crucial

“Our linear model is effectively no longer fit for purpose, failing both people and the planet. Circular economy strategies have the potential to be instrumental in the push to mitigate the associated climate impacts, given that majority (67%) of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to material management”

Therefore embarking on a circular economy journey would accelerate actions taken to tackle climate change. So, climate change and circular economy are related and require an integrated strategy.

Transition to renewable energy needs resources – e.g., metals to be carefully managed. Circular Economy provides strategies to manage the biosphere through processes that help to re-integrate nutrients to the environment.

As explained in books such as cradle to cradle, performance economy, waste to wealth and doughnut economics, circular economy is an integrative strategy which has economic, business and environmental perspectives. In the business and economics strategy, circular economy identifies how processes and key performance indicators need to adapt and change in order to ensure reduce, reuse, and recycle. These strategies in turn, translate into smaller segments of environmental strategy that provide results.

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