“Circular economy” is a new economic development model that is built on circulating resources and products at all levels of economic activity, minimizing amounts of resource investment and consumption as well as generated waste, and maximizing added value during the cycle.
It aims to break away from the “linear economy”―i.e., the traditional one-way form of economic activity that produces, consumes and discards resources and products in large quantities―and to realize a sustainable society that balances economic growth with a smaller environmental footprint. The practical application of the circular economy model is beginning in Europe and other regions.