Linear and Circular Economy

linear economy is the industrial process where raw materials are gathered, processed,
assembled into final products, distributed by different companies, used by consumers, and
thrown away in one shelf life. On the other hand, circular economy is the industrial process
where raw materials are gathered, processed, assembled into final products, distributed by
different companies, used by consumers, and instead of being thrown away, they are
selectively disposed of and the remaining parts are recycled and used as extra materials for
other or new products.

The reason why linear economy model is adopted is because of its low price. In the linear
economy model, the products that are manufactured are distributed to stores where they are
sold to consumers. Consumers use it and throw it away. This reduces the cost required for
recycling thrown-away materials. Also, industries that follow the linear economy model are
shown to have higher energy consumption and more contaminated products, as compared
to circular economy model. On the other hand, the circular economy model was adopted
because it seeks to use the resources that are provided on all life cycles of the products or
services. The resources that are used in the manufacturing stage can be reused in different
stages, or they can be used to make entirely new products with the idea of increasing the
product's lifespan. Circular economy is widely adopted around the world because it doesn't
work for just consumer services, but it's also used in other social services such as
waste-to-energy technology, which uses residues from forests and farming to produce
sustainable energy for communities, such as in biomass plants, where sustainable energy is
made from the waste to energy technology and used to power buildings and houses.

The advantage of linear economy is that it can reduce manufacturing costs since
manufactured products aren't recycled but instead thrown away. The disadvantage of linear
economy is that it can cause mass landfills since tonnes of products are being thrown away
and not a single one of them is being recycled. Another disadvantage is that it consumes
high amounts of energy and most of the products that are manufactured by industries that
follow the linear economy model are all contaminated. The linear economy model relies on
the extraction of resources, their conversion into materials, and their assembly, which will
soon become wasted. All the stages in the linear economy model use high amounts of
energy and consumption of resources, which results in a high ecological footprint and higher
greenhouse gas emissions, which can contribute to climate change and global warming. The
advantage of the circular economy model is that it seeks to use all the resources and
materials in all stages, thus reducing the gas emissions produced. It also follows the
environmental regulations from the design stage up to the manufacturing stage, which
shows the eco-friendly nature of circular economy. Another advantage of circular economy is
that it's widely recognized and used in other fields, which can have other applications of
circular economy. For example, in gardening, recycled products can be used as fertilizer for
healthy vegetation. This can create job opportunities for labourers who want to earn income
in the gardening sector and it can also be used as an income generation for labourers.

The negative impact of the linear economy model on the environment is that all the stages of
the linear economy model consume high amounts of energy, which can result in higher
greenhouse gas emissions, which can contribute to climate change and global warming. The
positive impact of the circular economy model on the environment is that all sages of the
circular economy model follow environmental regulations, which ensures that the final
product is eco-friendly. Another advantage is that the recycled parts generated from the
circular economy model can be used in biomass plants to produce sustainable energy, which
reduces the ecological footprint and the amount of greenhouse gas that is being produced.

In conclusion, linear economy is the industrial process of manufacturing products from

processed materials and throwing them away while circular economy is the industrial
process of manufacturing products from processed materials while recycling unwanted parts
and making use of them for other products or used to make new products. Both models
come with their pros and cons, with linear economy being high energy consumer while
having to spend lesser money while circular economy has a lower energy consumption, but
have to spend higher amounts of money to recycle.