Materials come around and go around: Adapting to nature’s circularity

Abstract

The present multiple crises, such as climate change, war, and the recent pandemic, highlight the need for a stable and secure resource supply chain to overcome resource scarcity and shortages in manufacturing as well as in goods for everyday needs. Today’s linear production chains and waste management systems contribute to disruptions in resource availability as well as to greenhouse gas emissions. The concept of a holistic circular economy, inspired by natural processes, could help to mitigate these challenges. With a primary goal of maintaining resources, as much as possible, in “closed loops,” the following three challenges should be addressed: (1) Dissipation of resources, (2) Irreversibility of some processes, and (3) Logistical, technological, and information. These challenges can be addressed, in part, by implementing computational technology and cascading mechanical and chemical recycling processes in waste and resource management. This article emphasizes the interconnection between resource scarcity and pollution and climate change, and proposes a holistic circular economy as an important contribution to addressing this challenge. This holistic circular economy can be inspired, in part, by nature’s self-healing, self-transformation, and self-disintegration capabilities. Another crucial part is a comprehensive understanding of the limited resources of the planet and the impact on the planet of using up these resources and, thereby, leading to a shift toward sustainable material use and waste management. The transition to a circular economy requires changes at many levels, encompassing materials research, technical engineering, industrial implementation, and societal adaptation. In both product and process development, regardless of the technological readiness level, life-cycle analyses must be performed that consider the impact on the planet. With the help of a “product passport,” a suitable legal framework can be created and implemented. Radical changes in the way we carry out research into technologically relevant materials can pave the way to a holistic circular economy.