What Is the Circular Economy and Where Does It Lead?: QuickTake

Take, make, use, dispose. For decades, this has been the standard approach to production and consumption. Companies take raw materials and transform them into products, which are purchased by consumers, who ultimately toss them out, creating waste that ends up in landfills and oceans. Worried about climate change and environmental degradation, people are challenging the sustainability of this linear model and urging a so-called circular economy of take, make, use, reuse and reuse again and again.

It often leads to a system that is inefficient, costly and depletes natural resources. The mining of commodities from gold to coal can spoil ecosystems and disrupt communities. Making steel from ore requires a large amount of energy, which produces Earth-warming carbon dioxide. A byproduct of the linear model is material waste, which takes up space and may include contaminants, threatening biodiversity. Trash ends up in undesirable places: Scientists this year reported finding microplastics in human blood for the first time, and hazards to public health remain unknown.