Blouses, sneakers, electronics, single-use cutlery, food, packaging. Every day, various items and products are offered to people, either as direct consumption (when receiving that e-mail to buy another clothing on sale, for example) or as a consumer of a service (when the waiter delivers a disposable cutlery). Most of the time, what will be consumed was produced within a linear logic: extracting the raw material, producing, using, and discarding.

But the accumulation of this form of production over decades, combined with increased consumption and population growth, made this system unsustainable, as the planet is unable to regenerate natural resources at the same intensity as they are consumed.

Since the beginning of the 90s, the term “circular economy” has been popularizing and gaining strength as a method to replace the current production method, that of the linear economy. Instead of placing products on the street without being responsible for their destination when they reach the end of their useful life, the proposal is to think about the economic continuity of the extracted materials. That is, if a plastic bottle reaches the shelves, in what way will this plastic be used again? The concept is recent, but essential to transform society's way of life and contribute to the fight against global warming.

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What is the circular economy?

The circular economy is based on three basic principles, as defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a global reference on the subject:

1. Eliminate waste and pollution

2. Circulate products and materials (at their highest value)

3. Regenerate nature

Also according to the institution, the concept encompasses the concern with product design - which must be done in such a way as to enable their circularity - and is based on the transition to renewable energies and materials and the separation of the need for economic activity to consume finite resources. “The circular economy is an economic system designed to regenerate ecosystems, keep materials in use, and reduce waste and environmental impacts caused by production and exacerbated consumption,” explains Guilherme Suertegaray, senior project manager for Latin America at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

For chemical engineer and circular economy consultant, Renata Rodrigues, the circular economy is about ensuring that materials never become waste. “In the circular economy, we have to prevent the disposal of materials from happening. Normally, there is a mixture of materials in the discarded products, and nature does not have the natural regeneration capacity of those substances,” he says.

What are the pillars of the circular economy?

Prioritizing sustainable choices should be the simplest alternative for everyone, but the task is not always easy - and often, the economic system as a whole plays against those who try to act more consciously. For this reason, the concept of the seven “Rs” of the circular economy was developed. It is a way of establishing a sequence of steps before deciding to make a new purchase or consume something unnecessarily.

According to the Circular Movement, a multisectoral circular economy initiative in Brazil, the seven Rs are:

1. Refuse: avoid buying unnecessary products

2. Rethink: adopt new consumption and production models

3. Reduce: decrease the amount of resources used and waste generated

4. Reuse: find new uses for existing products

5. Recycle: transform used materials into new products

6. Repair: repair products to extend their lifespan

7. Regenerate: conserve and enable the recovery of ecosystem environments and services

By incorporating the seven “Rs” into everyday life, it becomes a habit to consider all possibilities before practicing a consumption that can be avoided.

What is the difference between linear and circular economy?

In the linear economy, the trajectory of products is limited: extraction, production, consumption, and disposal.

“The linear model is polluting and very inefficient from an economic point of view, since it extracts resources, generates products with a short lifespan and which are then discarded. In other words, the linear model generates waste and exhausts natural resources,” says Guilherme, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

The circular economy, on the other hand, is a system designed to reinsert materials into the economy, regenerate ecosystems and reduce environmental impacts. The main difference lies in the ability to keep products and materials in circulation, preventing them from becoming waste. This solution depends primarily on the design of the product at the time of creation.

We can think of an example from the textile sector. In the linear economy, fibers such as cotton are cultivated, transformed into fabrics, made into clothes, sold and, at the end of their useful life, discarded. Without adequate recycling mechanisms, these materials end up in landfills or landfills. In the circular economy, the industry thinks about how to avoid losses during the process. When launching a new clothing collection, it is up to companies to plan how the materials will be recovered and used later in other production chains.

“Companies need to think about whether the design will compromise the environment or whether there is a demand for the materials used to be reinserted into the economy,” says Renata. “Small condiment sachets, such as ketchup, cannot be recyclable because there is a mixture of materials in the composition of the package that is difficult to separate, for example. It would be necessary to think of another type of packaging that would guarantee recyclability”.

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Why is the circular economy important?

The planet's ability to regenerate its resources is limited. According to the organization Global Footprint Network, humanity consumes the equivalent of 1.75 planets a year. In other words, more resources are extracted than the planet is capable of producing.

The report Circularity Gap Report 2024 It also highlights that only 7.2% of the materials that enter the economy are reused. At the same time, the global use of materials continues to expand: 582 billion tons were consumed between 2016 and 2021, almost the same amount of materials used throughout the 20th century.

Without proper disposal of the waste generated, they contribute to global warming. “Methane is one of the main greenhouse gases, 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in absorbing heat,” explains Renata. This gas is emitted in landfills with the decomposition of organic waste.

According to Renata, the linear structure generates waste automatically. “If everything we extract from nature generates a product and a waste, nature will not be able to regenerate those materials. Where are we going to stop in a finite linear system? The time will come when there will be no more material to be extracted and the contamination will be drastic,” he says.

Examples of the circular economy

There are concrete cases that show how the circular economy works. In industry, an example of circular economy is to give new uses to waste from the manufacturing process. At Suzano, for example, industrial waste from the manufacture of cellulose has been transformed into soil acidity correctors that are used at the beginning of the company's production chain, preparing the land for eucalyptus plantations. In 2024, the company transformed 241.2 thousand tons of waste into corrective agents of this type. Find out more about this at 2024 Sustainability Report from Suzano.

Another example comes from the Swedish multinational IKEA, which works with the “Buy Back & Resell” service, which allows consumers to sell used furniture to IKEA in good condition in exchange for store credits. This furniture undergoes an assessment to identify possible damage or wear and tear. Depending on the state of the product, it is restored, repaired, or sold as is, in specific sections of items used in chain stores. This process allows a single piece of furniture to go through several cycles of use. In addition, unavoidable waste, such as unusable pieces of wood or fabric, is destined for recycling or reuse processes in new products, closing the production cycle.

In the textile market, the North American brand Patagonia maintains “Worn Wear”, a program that facilitates the repair, repurchase and resale of used clothing. When a part returns to the company, it undergoes a sorting: items that can be repaired are repaired and resold, while those in the worst condition have their materials separated for recycling. The company also creates content to teach customers how to repair their own clothes, encouraging the culture of repair and prolonged use of the same garment.

How can companies implement the circular economy?

There is a growing social demand for companies to increase the recyclability of products and ensure that they are, in fact, recycled. However, private sector action must go further. Companies need to take the initiative to replace fossil inputs with renewable biomaterials and invest in innovation to accelerate this process.

“It is necessary to invest in partners capable of innovating and building the necessary solutions for the industry, while there are technical specificities that must be achieved,” explains Guilherme, from Ellen MacArthur. In addition to innovation in production processes, the specialist defends innovation in business models to use less quantity of materials for commercial production.

In addition, companies must reflect on the value chain as a whole to implement the circular economy. “It's essential that companies understand the reverse value chain as well, not just the linear product lifecycle. In this process, it is crucial to partner with cooperatives, for example, to know what the destination of the product will be. The company needs to rethink its entire operating system,” says Renata.

Conclusion: the circular economy is an alternative for the future

While the linear system is based on extracting, producing, consuming, and discarding, the circular economy seeks to keep materials and products in use for as long as possible. The concept, although recent, contributes to the fight against global warming and aims to curb the unrestrained exploitation of natural resources.

There are companies that show that the circular economy is feasible and can be adopted by different sectors. However, its implementation depends on changes in production processes (from the beginning of the chain), business models and new product designs, requiring innovation, strategic partnerships, and a genuine commitment to sustainability.

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