The circular economy

Sustainability requires conserving the planet’s resources so that waste products from one process become the input for another.

Plastic has long been an ecological problem. But emerging technologies and more awareness could make the ubiquitous material part of a circular economy.

Reusing plastics and other materials is not enough. To achieving a circular economy, we must make less stuff to begin with.

A circular economy requires an overhaul of product design, consumption and waste management. Although recycling is dismissed by some as insufficient, it remains an essential process.

The computers, smartphones and other technologies that define modern life are creating waste across the world. A combination of technological and policy solutions could help to limit the damage.

People need to find better and more productive ways to become allies with water — which might mean giving it space for its processes.

An environmentally friendly path forwards for liquid fuel derived from plants will depend on smarter agriculture and smarter regulation.

The built environment provides a huge opportunity to move to a circular economy. Standardization and smart design will be key to enabling the shift.

The world is running out of sand. Is circular thinking the solution?

Vast amounts of textiles end up in landfill. Technology to recycle the cellulose in fabric could make clothing more sustainable.

The transition to renewable energy will require a notable quantity of technology metals and materials; however, production of technology materials causes substantial environmental damage. This Review discusses the raw material extraction approaches that optimize technical performance and reduce environmental impact.

The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating plastic pollution. A shift in waste management practices is thus urgently needed to close the plastic loop, requiring governments, researchers and industries working towards intelligent design and sustainable upcycling.

The increasing demand for technological products across the world pushes further the consumption of most metals, resulting in growing sustainability concerns. This study examines a yearly cohort of 61 extracted metals over time and estimates their lifetimes and losses throughout their life cycles.

Contamination of the environment with plastics is one of the most widespread and long-lasting human influences on our planet. There is an urgent need to comprehensively evaluate the environmental plastics cycle and advance understanding of key transport and fate mechanisms to minimize human exposure to plastics pollution.

Methods for the transformation of plastics into materials with value, known as plastic waste upcycling, are outlined, and their advantages and challenges in terms of a sustainable plastics economy are discussed.

Plastics support modern life but are also associated with environmental pollution. This Review discusses technologies for the production and recycling of bioplastics as part of a more sustainable and circular economy.

Functionalizing an intact carbohydrate core with acetals allows for the dramatically simplified production of a plastic precursor directly during the initial fractionation of non-edible biomass. When polymerized, the rigid and polar carbohydrate core also leads to bioplastics with competitive material and end-of life properties.