Introduction

The rise in the global population to 10 billion people, coupled with the need for resources to satisfy this growth, is resulting in an unsustainable increase in the extraction and processing of raw materials. The concept of a circular economy (CE) offers the potential to mitigate these risks by facilitating the cyclic use of resources and increasing value creation. The CE concept involves four technical cycles, namely: Maintaining product, Re-using/redistributing (used) product, Upgrading/remanufacturing product and recycling product. In 2008, China became one of the first countries to enact specific legislation for a CE. Germany and Japan have also been recognised as pioneering countries in the development of policies. With global consumption trends rising to unsustainable levels, and the impacts this is having on the environment, health, and economies, the utilisation of the concept of a CE offers a mechanism to address these issues. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.