Engineering

Ecology

Biology

Microeconomics

Ophthalmology

Economics

Computer science

Business

Waste management

Sociology

Globe

Natural resource

Factory (object-oriented programming)

Industrial organization

Medicine

Economy

Programming language

Consumption (sociology)

Dispose pattern

Production (economics)

Circular economy

Social science

California Management Review

Since the industrial revolution, we have been living in a linear economy. Our consumer and “single use” lifestyles have made the planet a “take, make, dispose” world. This refers to a unidirectional model of production: natural resources provide our factory inputs, which are then used to create mass-produced goods to be purchased and, typically, disposed after a single use. This linear economy model of mass production and mass consumption is testing the physical limits of the globe. It is, therefore, unsustainable and a shift toward a circular economy is becoming inevitable.

Introducing a Circular Economy: New Thinking with New Managerial and Policy Implications