On a nationwide scale, switching from a linear economy to a circular economy starts by changing attitudes. Meanwhile, it s necessary to transform our industrial, economic and social structures in order to encourage the eco-design of products and materials, favour collaboration between industries and promote the economics of functionality. Too great a challenge? Not for the Netherlands, which will be circular by 2050, a target set forth in 2016 by the Dutch government.

Voyage to the (new) centre of the circular Earth?

Usbek & Rica is a French publication available in digital, print and event-based formats. Its mission is to explore the near, distant and very long-term future , enthusiastically and optimistically. SUEZ invited it to indulge in this forward-looking exercise.

Is the idea of a circular nation still utopian? The report titled A circular economy in the Netherlands in 2050, published by the Dutch government in 2016, gives a concrete form to this ambition.

Circularity: the shared horizon of a pioneering country

The strategy defined at the highest level of the State recommends the use of renewable resources, the recycling and the optimal use of goods to limit the impact of human activity on the environment, and the protection of public health. To be put into practice these principles have need a firm economic and social foothold. In this case, how can this transition be managed in economic spheres? By optimising existing structures to reduce traditional production costs, while creating new opportunities. The solutions deployed include the eco-design of products, the recycling of raw materials, the recovery of waste and the sharing economy. The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research estimates that the country could earn a profit of 7.3 billion per year and create more than 50,000 additional jobs by adopting a circular economy1. The consumption of raw materials would be slashed by 100 megatonnes, or one-quarter of what the Netherlands imports every year today. And CO2 emissions should drop by 17 megatonnes.

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