Overview magazines

Slowly but surely, more and more people are seeing the advantages of circular systems compared to linear ones. These 9 facts show that thinking in circles is the best way to move forward because there is still so much work to be done towards becoming more sustainable.

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

Every year, we extract 102.3 billion tons of raw materials (excluding water) from the earth worldwide. That amounts to 75.84 lbs per person per day. (Circle Economy, 2018) 

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 01

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

Every year, we use 31.6 billion tons of biomass worldwide for nutrition, construction materials and firewood. (Circle Economy, 2018)

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 02

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

At the moment, 9.1% of the world economy is circularly organized. 90% of all raw materials never find their way back into the economy after being used. (Circle Economy, 2018)

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 03

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

If the circular economy were to be implemented globally, CO₂ emissions could be reduced by almost 70% by 2030. (Club of Rome, 2015)

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 04

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

By using circular raw materials instead of primary raw materials, we would reduce the extraction of primary raw materials by 50% by 2050. (World Economic Forum & Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2018) 

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 05

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

If the entire European economy were to become circular, 3,000,000 new jobs would be created. (McKinsey & European Commission, 2017)

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 06

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

Extending the lifespan of printers, laptops and washing machines would mean that we could reduce CO₂ emissions by 2-4% in Europe alone. That is equivalent to 477,000 fewer cars on the road. (McKinsey & European Commission, 2017)

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 07

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

If all the materials used in the fast-moving consumer goods market were circular instead of linear, it would result in an annual saving of 700 billion dollars.

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 08

CIRCULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

11 large companies, including Coca-Cola, Unilever, L'Oreal, PepsiCo and Evian, produce 6.6 million tons of plastic packaging material every year. By 2025, these companies want to change to a 100% circular model. (World Economic Forum, 2018) 

 Frank Lindner   Xiao-Er Kong

Fact 09