The 9 Rs of Circular Economy Explained

"The global economy is only 7.2% circular. That means that for every 100 pounds of steel, plastic, cotton, concrete, and food the world consumes, less than 8 pounds come from recycled or reused sources. The other 92-plus pounds? Freshly extracted from the earth, processed, used once or twice, and very often thrown away."

"The Circularity Gap Report 2024, published by Circle Economy in partnership with Deloitte, found that the share of secondary materials in global consumption has actually dropped from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023; we're moving in the wrong direction even though the conversation about sustainability has never been louder."

"The 9 Rs guide how we design products, materials, and systems to keep resources useful for as long as possible. Imagine the 9 Rs as a ladder: the higher you climb, the more efficient and sustainable things become. The lower you are, the more energy and effort it takes to recover value from what's already been thrown away."

The global economy operates on a linear take-make-dispose model, with only 7.2% of consumed materials coming from recycled or reused sources. This represents a decline from 9.1% in 2018, despite increased sustainability discussions. The Circularity Gap Report 2024 reveals that 92% of consumed steel, plastic, cotton, concrete, and food are freshly extracted, processed, used briefly, and discarded, driving resource depletion, climate change, and waste accumulation. The circular economy framework, based on the 9 Rs, offers an alternative approach by designing products and systems to maintain resource utility indefinitely. This hierarchy ranges from refusing unnecessary materials entirely to recovering value from waste, with higher rungs requiring less energy and effort.

Read at Earth911