Omkar Dattatray
National Productivity Council (NCP) has celebrated circular economy day on 12th Feb, 2019 and the theme of the celebration was circular economy for sustainable productivity. Today is the era of circular economy and the conventional linear economy should be changed. Circular economy is the new catch word for the developed economies and for developing economies like India. Circular economy should be the goal for the increase and use of the maximum productivity with efficiency and emphasis on sustainability. It should result in minimum waste of resources and essential ingredients which are scarce and are needed for production of goods and services. Thus circular economy aims at the recycling of the production and the objective is to reuse the scrap and residual of the products for economic use. Thus the waste of resources should be minimum and production should be maximum and the waste of any kind should be recycled into further production to ensure to fullest use of waste products and scrap. The tradition linear economy doctrine and practice is to make the product, use the product and throw the waste and this practice should be shunned for the overall benefit of the end users and the economy as well. Circular economy involves the production process which result into eco-friendly finished products and minimum of wastes and scraps in the best interests of the economy. In Japan and European countries circular economy is in full swing and in India even at present only 30 percent of the economy is circular and the rest 70 percent is still following conventional linear production processes under which make, use and throw is the guiding criteria. However, our developing economy is on the march of going circular and NPC and NITI Ayog is playing a significant role in this behalf and ensuring circular production processes which are eco friendly and result in less pollution of various kinds. For ensuing the circular economy Government, NCP, NITI Ayog, industrial associations, Chamber of commerce and Industry, NGOs and the general public can play their role so that circular economy experiments will be a success in India.
But one thing is clear that the products as a result of circular economy being eco friendly but somewhat costly and then it depends upon consumers who will have to decide whether to buy traditional products of linear economy or the eco friendly products produced by circular economy. In this regard awareness and information campaigns about the benefits of using eco friendly products should be imparted to the consumers and they should also be made aware of the advantages of using and recycling the waste material and of converting the waste material and residues into production channels so that new useful products are given shape and there is minimum of wastage. In this regard, there is utmost need to segregate the industrial and domestic waste and also to segregate dry and liquid waste so that these are again channelized into process of conversion through production so that useful products are given shape for the benefit of society. The purpose of circular economy is also to ensure that there is very less waste of the materials and even no waste at all. In Japan, there is a city which follows and adheres to the principles and practice of circular economy and there is no waste at all in the production process and this city has become famous for having no waste. It has become a tourist destination and people from far and wide come to this city. Taking a cue from this experience the Indian industrialists and producers should see to it as how such a circular economy is made possible which leads to no waste and scrap. But this is far from reality for so many years from hence as we have not converted our linear economy into circular economy totally but efforts in this direction are on. It will take many-many years from today to see the full introduction and growth of the circular economic process which led to sustainable productivity with minimum of waste and maximum of efficiency and optimal use of all the scarce resources. A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy. Linear economy rests on the outdated principle of make, use and dispose. In circular economy we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them while in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of service life.
It is an economic system where products and services are traded in closed loops or cycles. A circular economy is characterized as an economy which is regenerative by design with the purpose to retain as much value as possible of products, parts and materials. A circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of the resources. This regenerative approach is in contrast to the traditional linear economy which has a make use and dispose model of production. According to Ellen Macathur Foundation, “It is looking beyond the current take, make, and waste extractive industrial model. A circular economy aims to redefine growth focusing on positive society – wide benefits. It entails gradually decupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system. Circular economy is based on three principles:
* Design out waste and pollution.
* Keep products and materials in use
* Regenerate natural systems. Circular economy model synthesizes several major schools of thought.
In a circular economic activity builds and rebuilds overall system health. The concept recognizes the importance of the economy needing to work effectively at all scales for large and small businesses for organizations and individuals globally and locally. Denmark, Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Japan follow circular economic model. In Denmark, resource strategy is passed which treats all waste as a resource that should either be recycled or reused. Those materials are used which do not contain toxic material. The commission estimates that circular economy can save EU businesses dollar 600 billion. Countries across the world are developing strategies for moving to a circular economy. Circular economy requires waste material strategies. A circular economy aims to maintain the value of the products, materials, resources for as long as possible. To sum up it is crystal clear that economies of the world are moving towards direction of circular economy and India is exception but in India it requires concerted efforts of the Government, NITI Ayog, NCP, Industrial organizations, trade and business houses, NGOs and public as the consumers and final users of the products.
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