ACCORDING to Wikipedia, circular economy is a “generic term for an industrial economy that promotes greater resource productivity aiming to reduce waste and avoid pollution by design or intention, and in which material flows are of two types: biological nutrients, designed to re-enter the biosphere safely, and technical nutrients, which are designed to circulate at high quality in the production system without entering the biosphere as well as being restorative and regenerative by design. This is contrast to a Linear Economy which is a ‘take, make, dispose’ model of production.”
Simply put, it is a type of economy that more friendly to the environment, because it does not pollute so much as it produces, and whatever it produces is cleansed first before these are returned to the environment.
Also simply put, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) aims to have a sustainable society that in essence would also result in a sustainable planet. Unlike the previous definitions of the UN however, the new meaning of sustainability now includes other aspects of sustainability, and not just the environment itself.
True enough, the slogan of the UN says that the SDGs are the “17 Goals to Transform the World”. Looking at these goals, we could not help but notice that one way or the other, most of the goals would have something to do with the environment, directly or indirectly.
For example, the first three goals are “No Hunger”, “Zero Poverty” and “Good Health and Well-being”, three separate goals that obviously could not be met not unless we could reverse the damage of industrial waste to the environment.
History will show that public policies and modern technologies do not always go together when it comes to the restoration and the protection of the environment. Sometimes, there may be public policies in place, but there may be no modern technologies that could be used to enforce these policies. At other times, there could be modern technologies available but there may be no public policies that have been put in place.
In between these cracks, there could be other problems that could get in the way, such as the lack of measures to curb corruption, and the lack of political will. Serious as these problems might be, it seems that looking for the practical solutions for these would be easier than looking for the technological solutions. (To be continued)/PN
