ABSTRACT
1Circularity has been the guiding principle of nature since the very beginning. Early man lived in a circular society of scarcity and dearth. This type of non-monetary circular societies driven by necessity still exists in many industrially less developed regions of the world.
The objective of the circular economy is to maintain the values, and manage stocks, of assets, from natural, cultural, human, manufactured to financial stocks. By contrast, the linear industrial economy’s objective is to create added value by transforming natural resources into goods and managing the corresponding manufacturing and supply chain processes.
The circular industrial economy took off during the Second World War in industrialised countries. It is characterised by asset managers maintaining the value and utility of stocks of goods and molecules for the longest period of time. People in the circular economy of scarcity are driven by need, no other motivation needed, and it is the most sustainable post-industrial economy business model available, but not the only smart and green strategy there is.
