By now many consumers and businesses online are aware of the term circular economy. However, it’s the circular bioeconomy that we could be really striving for.
One can barely predict what the world could look like in ten or twenty years should current wasteful habits continue. Fortunately, a circular economy approach has already been put to use by a lot of consumers and businesses.
The many basic principles that ensure a working circular economy includes recycling, reusing, repairing, for example. This approach is needed because we simply cannot consume and use resources the way we have been for these past couple of decades.
The circular economy as we know it
A circular economy is all about keeping products and materials in circulation. This can be done through extensive recycling and reusing. The most important rule of thumb is not wasting your waste, so to speak.
The circular economy is an economic model in which new products are not constantly being produced, again this puts emphasis on not wasting products. Recycling package materials is also one part of the circular economy that reduces waste.
Our beloved planet can only sustain so much when it comes to production and consumption. To secure the Earth’s well-being, we need to change our consumer habits and the circular economy is one step in this change. Alongside preventing waste, it provides the much-needed reduction of harmful emissions that are currently increasing the earth’s temperature.
Circular bioeconomy
Finally, it is becoming clear that societies are looking to secure their future well-being with responsible and sustainable decisions.
One such decision is implementing a circular bioeconomy which differs from what we are used to. The more we replace fossil-based materials with renewable materials and redesign materials to sustain recycling and reusing, the better suited we are for the transition to a bioeconomy.
Renewable materials such as wood, for example, are the backbone of a circular bioeconomy. Not only is it imperative to keep materials in circulation, but the ideal situation would also include these materials being bio-based and all the products recyclable.
Carbon Cycle
A circular bioeconomy is one way, albeit a very significant one, to fight climate change and global warming. Lessening the number of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere by keeping all that carbon intact is crucial. Emissions can be reduced by reusing raw materials that are renewable and bio-based. Thus, we would be less dependent on oil drilling for example and cut down on emissions.
When we talk about wood being a backbone biomaterial in all of this, it is because trees absorb carbon emissions. To be precise, growing trees can actually reabsorb carbon dioxide that has been released for example by burning or decaying.
In other words, a working carbon cycle is a by-product of reforestation that comes with a fully functioning circular bioeconomy.
The transition has begun but it is still uncertain what will it take for a circular bioeconomy to happen on a global scale. Ultimately, instead of “why”, many of us should be asking “when”. The circular approach is beneficial to our planet whichever way may it be applied.