How can we encourage circular economy approaches?

We live in such a 'throwaway' economy, where we dispose of materials so easily once we are 'done' with them. But our waste can become resources that can be circulated and regenerated. Circular economy is not just 'one fix' like food waste or fast fashion, it is about an entire system that needs to be designed. According to the Ellen MaCarthur Foundation, it is a pivotal way to challenge the climate crisis because a circular economy has the room to give us the 'power to grow prosperity, jobs, and resilience while cutting greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and pollution.

Now on a very micro landscape, we can encourage a circular economy through education. Education is key to encourage a circular economy. It is not a household term nor concept. Simplifying the idea to become understood has the ability to widen the possibility of encouraging everyday change, which may lead to a larger systemic change *Fingers Crossed*.

But it isn't just the mindset of our society. Our current global economy does not make products that last or that are easily refused, repurposed, repaired or recycled. Governments should encourage systemic change to design projects that retain their value or that enable the recovery of materials as secondary feedstocks. I have optimism in this encouragement but I do fear after COVID-19 our worldly governments are interested in making a profit again and will encourage fast fashion, cheap utilises and all.

Hopefully, we can encourage a circular economy that can be designed to reduce unnecessary waste, derive more value from products and just reduce damaging emissions.

Incentives such as subsidies, tax reliefs, and innovation grants are key to encouraging industries to adopt circular economy approaches. While cliché, designing schemes that “act local, think global” is an effective way to promote circular economy practices, especially as the concept is relatively new and unfamiliar. To build knowledge of circular economy approaches, local governments can trial such programs within their communities first. For example, a local government area could trial grant provisions for businesses and organisations to transition into circular economy approaches, such as purchasing necessary recycling infrastructure or other waste reduction systems. Starting with small scale trials in the community allows business/private sectors and local governments to assess strengths/weaknesses of different policy incentives and tailor accordingly, depending on what sectors operate in their area, ease of processes, etc. To give a real life example, Sweden implemented a ‘repair/reuse tax relief’ in 2017 and found that different sectors (such as bicycles/IT/white goods) experienced varying degrees of success with the scheme, w