Issue Environmental and resource security through the circular economy

Summary

A circular economy, unlike the linear model of mass production, consumption and disposal, reduces resource use and waste across production, distribution, consumption, reuse and recycling and keeps materials in use. Moving to it is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions and raw-material costs, create new businesses and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. The EU is leading the transition as part of its 2050 climate-neutrality goal with a strategy of growing the economy while using fewer resources, and the Korean government is also promoting circular-economy policies. As supply of rare earths and other critical materials for advanced industries becomes less stable, resource access is increasingly treated as a national security matter and urban mining of electronic waste is receiving renewed attention. Korea is classed among high recyclers, yet rising household waste per person makes its 2030 recycling and emission goals hard to meet, and its urban-mining industry is growing in size but lacks competitiveness.