We know since 1987 WCED that traditional economic thinking is social and environmentally unfriendly as it has led to social and/or environmental sustainability problems, which sustainable development thinking had tried to address since then.
We should know then that the circular market still has the same sustainability problems as the old traditional market.
And this raises the question, Are economic linearity and economic circularity BOTH environmentally unfriendly?. I yes, why?
Alright, let's dive into the depths of economic philosophy, my friend Lucio Muñoz. I am ready to share some unfiltered thoughts on economic linearity, economic circularity, and their environmental impact.
Now, consider this: both economic linearity and economic circularity can potentially pose environmental challenges. Let's break it down:
1. **Economic Linearity:**
- This refers to the traditional linear economic model where resources are extracted, used, and then discarded as waste. The "take, make, dispose" approach.
- Why it's potentially environmentally unfriendly: This model often leads to resource depletion, environmental degradation, and a significant increase in waste generation. It's a one-way street that doesn't account well for the finite nature of resources on our planet.
2. **Economic Circularity:**
- The circular economy is designed to minimize waste and make the most of resources. It emphasizes recycling, reusing, and reducing consumption.
- Why it might still be environmentally challenging: While circularity is a step in the right direction, the challenge lies in the complete decoupling of economic growth from resource use. Even in a circular economy, there's still resource extraction and energy use. Additionally, some recycling processes can have environmental costs.
So, are both environmentally unfriendly? Well, it's a nuanced situation. Both models need careful management to ensure they truly align with environmental sustainability goals:
- **Overconsumption:** Regardless of linearity or circularity, if consumption rates are unsustainable, both models can be problematic.
- **Resource Management:** The key is how well we manage resources. Circular economies need to ensure that the processes involved in reusing and recycling don't contribute to pollution or excessive energy consumption.
In essence, it's not about the model itself being inherently bad but about how well it's implemented and whether it genuinely addresses the root causes of environmental degradation. Sustainable practices and mindful consumption are essential, whether we're dealing with a linear or circular economy.
There you Lucio Muñoz have it, a whirlwind tour through economic philosophies. Now, let's stir up some more thoughts or venture into a different realm if you Lucio Muñoz wish!
Kaushick, thank you very much for taking the time to comment.
I agree with you, circular or not, traditional market thinking is environmentally unfriendly for the reasons you mentioned and others that may fall outside the box. For example, the pricing mechanism of both only accounts for economic cost at profit as all other costs, like environmental costs associated with economic activity are externalized. This is why the WCED 1987 asked as to move away from traditional economic thinking as that thinking had led to sustainability crises like environmental problems and you can not solve a problem using the thinking that created the problem in the first place.
Hence, selling or promoting the circular economy as the solution to environmental problems as is being done right now here in RESEARCHGATE can not be defended academically unless you created alternative academic facts and to make that point I asked this specific question.
We agree then, both are not environmentally friendly.
Kaushick, have you ever seen any of the following publications, they have good food for thoughts:
Thinking beyond business as usual ARTICLES available in Researchgate and Academia EDU
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 101: What was wrong with the structure of Adam Smith’s traditional market model? What are the main implications of this?. Boletin CEBEM-REDESMA, Año 14, No.2, February, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 109: Linking perfect green market theory to the circular green economy, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 14 Nº 7, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 107: Comparing the structure of the circular green economy with that of the circular environmental externality management based economy to identify differences as well as to point out the market implications of these differences, Boletin CEBEM-REDESMA, Año 14, No.6, November, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. Sustainability thoughts 110: Linking perfect red market theory to the circular red economy, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 15 Nº 1, January, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. Sustainability thoughts 111: Linking perfect sustainability market theory to the circular sustainability based economy, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 15 Nº 2, February, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2000. " An Overview of Some of the Policy Implications of the Eco-Economic Development Market", In: Environmental Management and Health, Prof. Walter Leal Filho/PhD(ed), Vol. 11, No. 2, Pp. 157-174, MCB University Press.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2003. Linking Sustainable Development Indicators by Means of Present/Absent Sustainability Theory and Indices: The Case of Agenda 21, GDS, IIG, Spain
Muñoz, Lucio, 2009. Beyond Traditional Sustainable Development: Sustainability Theory and Sustainability Indices Under Ideal Present-Absent Qualitative Comparative Conditions, En: Mineria Sustentable, REDESMA, Vol.3(1), March, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2023. Sustainability thought 177: What are environmental pollution production markets, environmental pollution reduction markets, environmental pollution management markets and no environmental pollution production markets? How do they work?, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 17, Nº 4, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2023. Sustainability thought 176: Plotting the perfect market shifts and dwarf market shifts solutions to distorted traditional market pricing mechanisms in the same plane to point out the nature of remaining sustainability gaps under paradigm shift avoidance processes, In: International Journal of Latest Engineering and Management Research (IJLEMR), ISSN: 2455-4847, www.ijlemr.com, Volume 08, Issue 03, March, Pp. 39-50, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2023. Sustainability thought 179: Can we transition from the environmentally dirty economy to the environmental clean economy with the use of green markets? If Yes, why?, In: International Journal of Education Humanities and Social Science(IJEHSS), April-May 2023, Volume 6, Issue 02, Pp. 115-131, ISSN: 2582-0745, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2023. Sustainability thought 162: Can we transition from the environmentally dirty economy to the environmental clean economy with the use of dwarf green markets? If no, why not?, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 17, Nº 2, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2023. Sustainability thought 175: Contrasting the working of perfect market and of dwarf market solutions to distorted traditional market pricing mechanisms to point out the nature of sustainability black holes created under paradigm shift avoidance processes, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 17, Nº 1, La Paz, Bolivia
Muñoz, Lucio, 2023. Sustainability thought 174: Using the sustainability market price to derive the three imperfect market ways to manage the consequences of distorted traditional market pricing mechanisms under externality cost management, In: International Journal of Latest Engineering and Management Research (IJLEMR), Vol. 8, Issue 1, January, Pp. 01-13, ISSN: 2455-4847, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2022. Sustainability thought 173: Using the sustainability market price to derive the three perfect market ways to correct distorted traditional market pricing mechanisms under externality cost internalization, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 16, Nº 11, November, La Paz, Bolivia
Muñoz, Lucio, 2022. Sustainability thoughts 143: Pointing out the different roads towards sustainability markets when placing the traditional market model of Adam Smith under the Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm transformation loop analytically and graphically, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 16, Nº 10, October, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2022. Sustainability thoughts 140: How can the consequences of the 2012 green market paradigm shift avoidance move that led to the world of dwarf green markets of today be highlighted, including the green Marxism threat?, In: International Journal of Latest Research in Engineering and Technology(IJLRET), Vol. 8, Issue 10, Pp. 05-17, October, ISSN: 2454-5031, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2022. Sustainability thoughts 139: How can the 2012 road to transition from environmental pollution based traditional economies to the environmentally clean economies that the world never built be pointed out?, In: International Journal of Education Humanities and Social Science(IJEHSS), Vol. 5, No. 05, Pp. 65-77, ISSN: 2582-0745, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2022. Sustainability thought 171: How to state the structure of the Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm evolution loop for the traditional market of Adam Smith when shifting to sustainability markets, to red markets, and to green markets under academic integrity?, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 16, Nº 8, August, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2022. Sustainability thought 170: What happens to the Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm evolution loop under willful academic blindness? What are the implications of this?, In: International Journal of Education Humanities and Social Science(IJEHSS), Vol. 5, No. 04, Pp. 251-260, ISSN: 2582-0745, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. Sustainability thoughts 128: How can the thinking behind sustainability based market expansions and traditional market based economic expansions be contrasted using pareto optimality thinking? How are these expansions linked to sustainability gap dynamics?, In: International Journal of Education Humanities and Social Science(IJEHSS), March – April 2021, Volume 4, Issue 2, Pp. 37-57, ISSN: 2582-0745, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. Sustainability thoughts 126: Are environmental externality management based production and consumption bundles inconsistent with green pareto efficiency and with pareto efficiency principles at the same time? If yes, why?, In: CEBEM-REDESMA Boletin, Año 15 Nº 2, February, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. Sustainability thoughts 127: Pareto optimality under the sustainability eye: Is the traditional pareto efficient bundle the second most undesirable bundle on the pareto optimality sustainability line? If yes, why?, In: International Journal of Management studies and Social Science Research(IJMSSSR), Vol. 3, Issue 1, January-February, Pp 180-196, ISSN: 2582-0265, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. If Going From Free Markets to Free Markets Is the Science Based Approach: What is Then the Model Structure, Price Structure, Choice Structure and the Knowledge Structure and Related Gaps of the 2012 Paradigm Shift From Perfect Traditional Market to Perfect Green Market Thinking?, In: Insights into Economics and Management ,Vol. 5, Chapter 1, Pp 1-17, Book Publisher International, January 21, ISBN: 978-93-90516-50-6 (Print), ISBN: 978-93-90516-51-3(eBook), London, UK.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2021. Sustainability thoughts 130: Can green economies and green growth exist without green markets? If not, why not? What is the current main development implication of this?, In: International Journal of Management studies and Social Science Research(IJMSSSR), vol.-3, issue-1, January-February, Pp 50-65, ISSN: 2582 - 0265, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 106: Can we solve an environmental sustainability problem by managing the consequences of that problem? If not, why not?, Boletin CEBEM-REDESMA, Año 14, No.5, May, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 104: How the shift from traditional markets to red markets would have looked like had the 1987 Brundtland Commission recommended then a social sustainability fix?, In: International Journal of Management studies and Social Science Research(IJMSSSR), Vol. 2, Issue 2, March-April, Pp 127-137, ISSN: 2582-0265, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 103: How the shift from traditional markets to green markets would have looked like had the 1987 Brundtland Commission recommended then an environmental sustainability fix?, Boletin CEBEM-REDESMA, Año 14, No.3, March, La Paz, Bolivia.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2020. Sustainability thoughts 102: How the shift from traditional markets to sustainability markets would have looked like had the 1987 Brundtland Commission recommended then a sustainability fix?, In: International Journal of Business Management and Economic Review, Pp. 110-120, Vol. 3, No. 02, ISSN: 2581-4664.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2019. The Flipping of Traditional Economic Thinking: Contrasting the Working of Dwarf Green Market Thinking with that of Green Market Thinking to Highlight Main Differences and Implications, In: Global Journal of Management and Business Research: E Marketing, Volume 19, Issue 4, Version 1.0 , Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2017. Is Environmental Externality Management a Correction of Adam Smith’s Model to Make it Environmentally Friendly and Shift it Towards Green Markets or is it a Distortion on Top of Another Distortion?. International Journal of Economics, Business and Management Studies, 4(1): 1-16.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2016. Beyond Traditional Market Thinking: What is the Structure of the Perfect Green market?, In: International Journal of Science Social Studies Humanities and Management (IJSSSHM), Vol. 2, No. 5., May, Ed. Dr. Maya Pant, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2019. From Traditional Markets to Green Markets: A Look at Markets Under Perfect Green Market Competition, Weber Economics & Finance (ISSN:2449-1662), Vol. 7 (1) 2019, Article ID wef_253, 1147-1156
Muñoz, Lucio, 2016. Beyond Both Red Socialism Thinking and Traditional Market Thinking: What Is the Structure of the Perfect Red Market. In: International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research(IJAEMR), Vol.1, Issue 5, Pp 546--568, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2019. From Traditional Markets to Red Markets: A Look at Markets Under Perfect Socially Friendly Market Competition, In: International Journal of Management Studies and Social Science Research(IJMSSSR), Volume 1, Issue 2, March-April, Ed. Dr.Vishal Muvel, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2016. Beyond Green Market Thinking: What would be the Structure of the Perfect Sustainability Market?, In: International Journal of Science Social Studies Humanities and Management (IJSSSHM), Vol. 2, No. 5, May, Ed. Dr. Maya Pant, India.
Muñoz, Lucio, 2019. From Traditional Markets to Sustainability Markets: A Look at Markets Under Perfect Sustainability Market Competition, In: International Journal of Management Studies and Social Science Research(IJMSSSR), Volume 1, Issue 1, January-February, Ed. Dr.Vishal Muvel, India.
Lucio Muñoz Kaushik Shandilya Congrats for the fruitful dialogue. Imo, the concept of circular economy is an extension of linear economics, to save the scientific status quo of economics.
——
A different model is portrayed in the following works:
https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/58921#
https://www.sociostudies.org/almanac/articles/m-_i-_tugan-baranovsky/
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/54835/
Book Global Wave Energetics/World System Thermodynamics
Yes, the only goal is to save the old traditional pollution production market of Adam Smith, and to do this they have to resort to academic tunneling and a lost of academic integrity as only then they can violate the paradigm evolution loop a la Thomas Kuhn and avoid a shift from traditional perfect market thinking to perfect green market thinking, a circular market by design as environmental issues here are ENDOGENOUS issues.
Have a nice day
Lucio
Thank you for your spirited question. I believe to answer whether both concepts are environmentally unfriendly is to measure the impact on environment. My previous research on the SDGs measurement (https://ejournal.sumbarprov.go.id/index.php/jpn/article/view/178) conclude, that the measurement alone is 100% well-aligned with the development goals in my city (Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia).
As I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), the economic circularity is a concept well-established in the first world countries, where the impact of economic development has depleted the environments, and awareness toward saving environment in increasing. The second and third world country could barely care toward saving environment, since the hunger (SDGs number one) is still in the headlines. One barely cares toward the environment, when economic development is still the dominating goals. That is why the famous photograph of thousand waste in the high wave of the sea (https://images.app.goo.gl/3TSvayScR1QFQSwb7) in Bali takes the world by surprise, but not the indigenous Indonesian (the grass-root people, below poverty-level society). Even the famous NGO who promote environmental improvement (https://www.instagram.com/pandawaragroup/) has been facing reluctancy from Government Officers, when trying to promote one of their cause to clean specific beach (https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/cd1jd17p9j7o).
Economic circularity is new, or at least not well-given attention to, in Indonesia (my opinion). The impact on how the economic boost may deplete the environment is really a first world countries headlines. And, economic circularity execution, is expensive. Take example one specific brand of water-bottling company in Indonesia, Le Minerale, whose campaign on economic circularity fit its product values, with the higher price of water gallon. The, the competitor (Aqua) make fun of the products (https://images.app.goo.gl/NW5MtmYvnKBwkDRj7), and continue on winning the market by lower price. Although I may admit, people with higher incomes are buying the economic circularity ads, grass-root majority couldn't care less. Majority still litter, instead of wanting to know how to separate the waste. Indonesia still has a long way to learn environment saving from Japan and Singapore, and other Asia countries, but I believe we are ahead of India (still, my opinion).
Gina, good day, Thank you for writing.
If you have two products, a traditional circularity based market based(Le minerale) with a price CMP ; and a traditional market competitor(aqua) with a price TMP, Then you should expect CMP > TMP, both are environmentally unfriendly as both the CMP and the TMP DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCING BOTTLED WATER.
As you said in this competition TMP wins as environmental cost externalization is bigger so it can produce at lower prices, BUT CONSUMERS DO NOT REALISE OR as you said given poverty, may not care about the fact that they are supporting a more environmenally unfriendly product.
And notice that the difference betweed CMP and TMP may not even be used by the circular producer to reduce pollution, but it may go straight to profits while consumers buying circularity products may be thinking they are being environmentally friendly, when in fact they are being greenwashed.
I BET there is no a government program monitoring that the higher cost of circularity benefits the environment, as CIRCULARITY means that the market failure created by not accounting for the environmental cost of production in the pricing mechanism, which was and is present in traditional market thinking, is now PERMANENT in traditional circular market thinking.
You can appreciate environmentally friendliness and unfriendliness through perfect green market thinking(circular green market) and dwarf green market thinking(broken dwarf green market circularity) too, you may find some good food for thoughts in this article:
Sustainability thought 183: How the structure of a bipolar world where developing countries have dwarf green markets and developed countries have green markets would look like? Which world would collapse first in an open system environment?
Article Sustainability thought 183: How the structure of a bipolar w...
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