Chapter 30
Squaring the Circular Economy
The Role of Recycling within a Hierarchy of Material Management Strategies
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Abstract
The idea of a circular economy, in which a fixed quantity of material is repeatedly recycled, is a compelling one. However, many materials cannot be recycled. Most materials that are recycled today are downgraded in the process and, for some materials, recycling is more energy intensive than new production. Recycling must therefore be seen as one option in a hierarchy of material management strategies: overall demand for materials can be reduced by a reduction in total purchasing or by making lighter products that last longer; ...
Get Handbook of Recycling now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
