03/11/2025
Richard LeBlanc makes a compelling case for shifting away from the circular economy in his latest article for BIG Media Ltd. Excerpt:
" The circular economy is dead, but a regenerative economy framework is emerging as an alternative approach – though largely theoretical and lacking large-scale implementation.
Scaling regenerative models faces hurdles including high upfront investments and value-chain co-ordination, as seen in food-industry transitions, but successes in regenerative agriculture demonstrate potential through cross-sector changes such as policy incentives and farmer training.
Kate Roworth’s seminal work, Donut Economics, provides strong context for the state of the circular economy and prospects for a regenerative one.
Instead of pretending infinite consumption is sustainable through better engineering, regenerative thinking focuses on systems designed to restore rather than simply sustain – systems that improve with use, create more than they consume, and build resilience rather than efficiency.
This is not about making the linear economy circular; it is about making the entire economy biological. A system designed like living systems that solved sustainability through billions of years of optimization.
Without PowerPoint slides.
The companies exploring this transition will not perfect the circle – they will abandon it entirely. "
Click on the link below for the full article.
I have seen the PowerPoint slide too many times. Another perfect circle adorned with cheerful arrows. “Take-Make-Dispose becomes Take-Make-Use-Return,” the chief sustainability officer explains to nodding heads – mostly the same nodding heads on the same conference circuit. The room smells of ...
