The figure has dropped from 9.1% in 2018 and 8.6% in 2020.
The metric doesn’t indicate the full extent of the global economy’s transition from a linear economy (‘take-make-waste’) to a circular economy, as it doesn’t fully capture elements such as how long materials stay in use. However it’s still not good news. Our current economic model is smashing through the planet’s safe limits in terms of climate change and biodiversity loss.
The better news is that by transitioning to a circular economy, the report indicates we can fulfil society’s needs with just 70% of the materials we currently use and crucially reverse the ‘overshoot’ of our planetary boundaries.
However, we need to move faster and with greater scale and ambition to transform our relationship with materials.
Key strategies to adopt are articulated as ‘Use less, use longer, use again and make clean’.
A great starting point for Kiwi businesses to adopt these strategies is to buy goods and services from the Circular Economy Directory. The Directory features over 300 local solutions that can help businesses ‘go circular’.