Socio-economic sustainability with circular economy — An alternative approach

As the global population and living standards rise, it pushes the demand for basic amenities like food, health, and energy resources. Additionally, manufacturing automation has led to mass production and consumption, triggering waste production. The existing linear economy approach has led to increasing waste production and resource depletion, posing significant environmental and public health threats. To overcome these impediments, an alternative model called the circular economy concept has gained popularity in the global industry community. This closed-loop, restorative, waste-free concept has the potential to protect the environment and improve economics by reducing energy and resource consumption. Thus, major impetus should be given to strengthening the backbone of the economy where tools such as green technologies, decarbonization strategies, bio refinery processes, material flow analysis, life cycle assessment, ecological footprints (water, carbon, and material), substance flow analysis, circularity index, eco-designing, bioresource management, new business models, and policy play an essential role in the areas of socio-economic sustainability, ecological facts, and industrial aspects to enhance socio-economic growth in a sustainable manner. Sectoral awareness, collaborations, and partnerships among the Government, stakeholders, policymakers, and competent authorities are also essential to enabling circularity within the eco-systems.