Entrepreneurship
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
BY MOHAMED ELMAHDY
In 2002, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, was flying a helicopter in the "Saruq Al-Hadid" area located in the South Dubai Emirate at the northern edge of Rub' al Khali desert. That was when he noticed a strange difference in the shape of the sand dunes and that they were arranged in a rather unusual way with a large spattering of black rocks. His Highness wanted to verify the matter, and he did inform the relevant authorities to take the necessary action. So, archaeologists began excavating, researching - trying to understand what had been happening in the past in this particular region.
Evoking unprecedented surprise was that the Polish research team discovered copper, bronze, and iron objects, which had been reconfigured from broken earthenware. And this was a few thousand years ago, which in turn means that inhabitants of this region had been recycling - broken and used ceramic pots were not disposed of - this is one of the fundamental principles of the Circular Economy.
What is the Circular Economy? How can it be an opportunity for companies and entrepreneurs in sustainable recovery? How will this pattern change the world by 2030?
Our present-day economy depends mainly on a Linear Economy – this relies on extraction, production, consumption, and disposal. In other words, it works on extracting materials and then manufacturing products or commodities from these raw materials that are in turn sold to the consumer and then disposed of after a short period of use.
The problem here is not just the waste. It goes beyond that by affecting our lives as a whole, simply because these wastes – or products of what we use or consume in our daily life - lead to air and water pollution and hence affects our health. It pollutes the oceans and, in turn, affects underwater life and marine wealth, and soil pollution. All these results in the exposure of animals and plants to pollution, which reflects on us humans, not to mention the destruction of the ecosystems that sustainably guarantee life on this planet.
Why is this crucial to us as humans? That is because we as creatures need air, water, and food to survive. In addition to going through a linear economy, irresponsible production and consumption, a depletion of the planet's limited resources – all these cause an imbalance in our ecosystem as a whole ...
No one denies that this economy has aided us to reach the satisfactory point in the history of humankind that we are now at, yet it suffers from stagnation. When the foundations for this linear model were laid since the Industrial Revolution, there was no expectation or perception at that time that it would be incompatible with the changes in the environment and the current demographics.
What is more, for a linear economy, the value here lies in the production and consumption of as many products as possible, a path that leads us to the wastage of primary raw materials. In this way, it reduces our chances of progress.
48 | BIZPRENEUR MIDDLE EAST March 2021
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