Recycling and the circular economy: what's the difference?

Recycling is the action or process of converting waste into reusable material

Recycling begins at the end - the ‘get rid’ stage of a product’s lifecycle. The circular economy, however, goes right back to the beginning to prevent waste and pollution from being created in the first place. In the face of our current environmental challenges, recycling won’t be enough to overcome the sheer amount of waste we produce.

“In a properly built circular economy, one should rather focus on avoiding the recycling stage at all costs. It may sound straightforward, but preventing waste from being created in the first place is the only realistic strategy.” - World Economic Forum

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