Circular Economy Through Smart and Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Introduction

In contrast to the take-make-consume-dispose policy of the traditional linear economy model, the made-to-be-made-again policy of the circular economy (CE) model has tremendous opportunities to not only significantly reduce the requirement of virgin resources, but also to reconsider how waste is handled throughout the entire process, redesign the product so that it is more affordable, generates jobs, and promotes new and innovative technologies, and ultimately reshape the economy. With a closed-loop system being created and the consumption of natural resources being reduced, the CE strategy focuses on the sustainable management of resources. Material components are reused, shared, mended, refurbished, remanufactured, and recycled. The CE concept is based on the notion of bringing waste back into the production process, at least in part, so that it enters the production loop and either serves as a resource for the subsequent cycle of production or is diverted for a stand-alone new product. Waste can circle around the production cycle even if it is only partially useful in the following cycle, provided that some value can be extracted from it. Because it circulates resources, gradually dissociates economic activity from the exploitation of finite resources, and enables us to preserve natural resources for future generations, the process of reusing waste has the potential to revolutionize the economy. The transition to a CE will enable us to use renewable energy sources in the future. The advantages of a CE are widely acknowledged by all stakeholders, including governments, and it have a legitimate place in the declarations of the majority of summits and conventions. Most notably, the relevance of the circular economy has been incorporated into several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations. It goes without saying that, in general, only some of the trash can be recycled once the resource has been used to produce the product. It is crucial to properly divide the waste into its component parts so that the reusable part can be reused in the production process, a small portion may be used as a resource for another useful product, and the remainder can be properly channeled out and dumped where standard waste management practices can be used. When a resource, a product/byproduct, or trash contains chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), it is even more crucial to treat the waste with care. Using the circular economy concept, it is possible to reuse POPs in the garbage, thereby lowering their overall concentration in the final waste. However, using dangerous chemicals repeatedly over the manufacturing cycle may increase the risk of exposure, therefore, in a CE, general worker and environmental safety are top priorities. In order to appropriately treat and dispose of non-recyclable garbage that is disposed of outside the recycling system, particularly potentially dangerous substances like POPs, so-called sinks may be helpful (Khajuria et al., 2022).