Understanding the Circular Economy and It's Terminology

Are some of the words and terms we use within the circular economy narrative creating a misleading understanding of what the concept actually is or could be? And will this then have a direct implication on how it is realised on the ground?

Challenges of implementing a circular economy are a frequent discussion point amongst businesses, policy makers and other organisations as they grapple with the reality of how to actually ‘do it’. Just how do you make even the tiniest step towards enabling a seismic shift to a totally different economic system? What barriers need to be overcome?

These ever-growing conversations, articles and reports often point to the obvious challenges posed by things like existing finance mechanisms, government strategy and policy, reverse supply chains and infrastructure, or customer behaviour patterns. Whilst these are all important of course, there is a challenge that is not often mentioned, yet lurks within many of these conversations – words and terminology.

The group will look at why deciding on the words and terms that you use to describe the circular economy might be as important to the transition as finding alternatives to single use plastic. In a light-hearted, conversational setting the group will touch on words, phrases and terms that they have found, over the last 10 years, to be either friend or foe.

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Thank you for watching this video. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK charity working on business, learning, insights & analysis, and communications to accelerate the transition towards the circular economy.

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[GraceRoska]

me telling youtube algorithm I and a community of advocates want these videos. 🌱🌏💚🇵🇭

[andrewsimpson]

Human stewardship is the responsibility of care, which taken seriously by each inhabitant, will best preserve earth’s resources for future generations.

[alexanderforsman]

There must be a way for policymakers to incentivise large manufacturers to make the change to more effectively use their resources. Perhaps drink manufacturers like CocaCola can get rid of marketing strategies like buying two 1.5 litre bottles for the price of one 650ml bottle, I never liked the concept of paying the same amount of money for 3 litres of a beverage that I only want a 650ml bottle of. Of course consumers are going to buy more for the same price, its a good deal for buyers, but it continues the trend of over producing and over manufacturing, which leads to more and more waste, and poor consumer habits.

[andrewsimpson]

Socio-Environomics is an ideology which encourages sustainable enterprise mechanisms; incentivizing righteous behaviors and penalizing unwanted practices. Social and Economic policies that consider the environment as central theme must be urgently instituted.

[p.s.wright]

I did not get on with this video. They spent all their time pulling apart and dishing established terminology, rather than saying what it meant in a circular economy, how it would look in a circular economy. I found it rather condescending and discouraging. There was a sense that the circular economy is THE ONLY solution, and we know about it but nobody else does. Disappointing elitism from the Ellen Macarthur Foundation.