Photo by: RobsonPL / iStock
The circular economy is all about using natural resources sustainably, reducing the environmental impact on the ecosystem associated with their extraction, and reducing the carbon footprint.
Closed-cycle economics is all about resource efficiency, the idea that the primary resources already extracted should be worked into the closed economic cycle as many times as possible.
The linear mentality that has developed in the post-war environment since the middle of the last century has led to a situation where extracted resources are most often used once and then discarded or buried, creating an additional burden on the environment and a demand for a permanent build-up of extraction of such resources.
We understand, however, that the global demand for certain types of natural resources will increase many times over. Their extraction and processing are associated with technological processes that leave a serious environmental footprint.
This is why it is important that the exploitation of already extracted resources should follow the logic of a closed-loop economy.
Aluminium, for example, can be recycled almost indefinitely. In the production of secondary aluminium, greenhouse gas emissions from the use of electricity are 20 times lower than in the electrolysis of primary aluminium.
Cover photo: carstenbrandt / iStock
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