CNAD National Art, Crafts and Design Center / Ramos Castellano Arquitectos. © Sergio Pirrone
The circular economy concept became more defined in 1990 when it appeared in the article Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment, by British economists and environmentalists David W. Pearce and R. Kerry Turner. At the time, the main purpose of the research was to demonstrate that the traditional economy did not incorporate recycling. In this way, the environment assumed a secondary role, just like a simple waste reservoir. Therefore, the circular economy would gain strength as an opposition to the linear (or traditional) economy, in which the production chain motto is “extract, produce and discard”. A model deeply rooted in our economy that has become unsustainable for several reasons, like the depletion of natural resources and the contamination of the environment resulting from production and disposal.