Circular Economy, Zero Waste Economy

This book is designed to be a pedagogical tool and a guide, an alarm signal and/or warning, making all players at different levels aware that environmental issues are just as important and just as deserving of attention, with the aim of protecting the environment upstream and avoiding damage downstream. The current economic model, known as "linear", is not in line with sustainable development. We need to review our production and consumption patterns to extract fewer resources upstream, stop throwing them away downstream, and reduce or even avoid waste at every stage of the value chain. Worldwide, only 8.6% of extracted resources are returned to the economy once they have been used. Many essential resources are already at critical levels of availability. The linear economic model essentially consists of extracting or harvesting raw materials and using them as resources in the manufacture of products which are then marketed on a large scale via distribution networks.