The Circular Economy Creates Sustainable Systems – Dame Ellen MacArthur

The Circular economy is the idea of an economic system that is designed to regenerate again and again.  The industrial and linear economy is the opposite. It’s logic is to take resources, make things and dispose them after “use”. The circular economy aims to promote greater resource productivity and to reduce waste and avoid pollution.  The whole design process works to either use biodegradable materials or materials that are highly reusable over time and in many production cycles.

Dame Ellen MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. She broke  the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2005. While preparing and later realizing her endeavor, MacArthur realized that a boat is a system in itself. It can only can carry a limited amount of resources. Later she made the comparison to earth. Humanity shares a globe with limited resources, and it sails through space. That insight brought her to work with the circular economy as a concept for survival and development.

We had the opportunity to interview Dame Ellen MacArthur at the EAT Stockholm Food Forum. Today she works at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the organizations mission is to change the systems that controls how everything is produced.