Steps towards circular economy
Circular economy is defined as a system in which goods never become waste, and in which nature regenerates.
Daniel Onea, 27.12.2024, 14:00
Every year, the European Union produces an estimated 2.2 billion tons of waste. Therefore, waste management legislation is being constantly updated to promote a radical change of course towards a more sustainable model, known as the circular economy. Usually, when we talk about the circular economy, we think about waste, but it is much more than that, says Liliana Nechita, the director of the Federation of Intercommunity Development Associations:
“It is true that waste is visible and could be better managed so that we could comply with this circular economy. Circular economy means that resources remain in the circuit for as long as possible. We talk about solid resources so we first we think of waste, but water and land are also included. In the linear model of economic management, the habit was to extract resources, produce goods, consume them and then throw away what is no longer useful to us. Basically, we have extracted resources from nature which then ended up occupying land and at the same time creating environmental problems, pollution in the first place.”
The circular economy was inspired by nature. Liliana Nechita explains:
“Basically, this is what the culture of ancient civilizations meant. They lived in harmony with nature, but in our society, much later, in the 1960s-1970s, the first concerns regarding the environment and the depletion of resources, appeared, so the first EU regulations in the field of waste were drawn up. Only later, around 2000, was introduced the principle by which we focus on the design of a product, so that from the design and prototype stage goods that can be reused and recycled are created. Ten years later, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation defined the circular economy as a system based on three principles. So it was then that the concept of circular economy, promoted by this lady and the foundation she established, was born. Being a navigator, she probably felt stronger, during her voyages on seas and oceans, the impact that waste, mostly plastic probably, but also other types, has on biodiversity and on nature in general.”
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation defines the circular economy as a system in which goods never become waste and nature regenerates. The principles that are taken into account from the design phase are very important:
“It’s about eco-design, about the fact that we introduce products and materials into a cycle, which can be a technical or biological one, when we talk about bio-waste or bio-resources, and, in practice, we preserve this intrinsic value. What does this circular economy action plan practically aim to do? First of all, to ensure, for the European business environment and for the EU citizens, the transition to an economy that uses resources in sustainable manner. Not all the resources that we use in Europe today come from Europe. Some come from very remote countries while others are not accessible to us for various reasons or are insufficient. Therefore, one of the solutions to ensure our independence and, ultimately, continuity, is to keep these resources here, manage them here and use them here. Basically, the goals of this action plan are to make full use of raw materials and promote energy saving while reducing greenhouse gas with an impact on climate change.”
So, we are talking about a radically different approach to the traditional economic model, based on the principle we use-we produce-we consume-we discard. This traditional model is based on large quantities of cheap and easily accessible materials and energy. As for the energy economy, there are now all kinds of actions aimed at conserving energy and a growing interest in green energy and renewable energy, explains Liliana Nechita, the director of the Federation of Intercommunity Development Associations:
“The Circular Economy Action Plan is all about supporting the transformation of the economy by using all the tools it can access in order to develop new business opportunities and at the same time increase competitiveness. Obviously, integrating environmental costs into production or products costs will have an impact on competitiveness, especially compared with other economies when this does not happen. Circular economy, however, creates new jobs in newly developing sectors, in the area of green energy, in renewable energy. It also conserves those precious resources that are either located very far from Europe or are very difficult to access, primarily because they are in very short supply. Basically, at this moment, there is more and more talk in the public space about critical raw materials. And these critical raw materials are the ones we pay special attention to, because they go into the production process of goods and some of them are impossible and very difficult to do without. This ultimately requires a fairer and more effective management of these raw materials that come from precious and rare sources. Obviously, reducing the impact on the environment might seem like a secondary purpose, but in fact, it is one of the goals of circular economy.”
The most recent measure of the European Commission was to propose new rules at the level of the European Union
regarding packaging. The proposals aim to improve packaging design and clear labeling in order to promote reuse
and recycling. Also, the Commission calls for the transition to plastics of biological origin, biodegradable and
compostable.
