A White Paper by Peter Desmond MBA, MA, FCA, FRSA, Management Consultant and Founder Director, Growth International, UK. Delivered during SAPICS 2016 in South Africa.

Our modern economy currently operates through a linear approach where products are made, used and disposed of. This Linear Economy is powered by increasingly expensive fossil fuels, relies on continual economic growth and generates waste. An alternative approach is a Circular Economy. This is an industrial system which benefits business, society and nature; it aims to reuse products and materials to realise their maximum value.

The Circular Economy is estimated to be worth $4.5 trillion per annum and capable of removing all new CO2 emissions generated by global GDP growth over the next 15 years (COP21).