• The 12th Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum in Asia and the Pacific was inaugurated in Jaipur on March 3.

• The event on the theme ‘Realising Circular Societies Towards Achieving SDGs and Carbon Neutrality in Asia-Pacific’ was inaugurated by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. 

• Khattar announced the Cities Coalition for Circularity (C-3). It is a multi-nation alliance for city-to-city collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and private sector partnerships. A working group of member nations will be formed to finalise the coalition’s structure and operational framework. This is expected to be a game-changer in the city-city partnerships across nations. 

Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum in Asia and the Pacific

• The Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum in Asia and the Pacific was launched in November 2009, with an objective to provide strategic policy advice to national government authorities in mainstreaming 3Rs in the overall policy, planning and development.

• The 3Rs stand for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

• Reduce calls for waste reduction by using things that you already have until the very end of their life cycle and by avoiding waste generation.

• Reuse calls for re-utilisation of goods and materials.

• Recycle calls for re-utilisation of waste as resources.

• The Forum seeks to address policies, programmes, measures, tools and technologies in the context of achieving resource efficiency, sustainable production and consumption, integrated solid waste management, sound material-cycle, low-carbon and zero waste society. 

• The Forum also provides a knowledge sharing platform for disseminating and sharing best practices in 3R areas, including new and emerging issues of concern in waste management.

• The 12th Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum in Asia-Pacific is hosted by India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and co-organised by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNCRD-DSDG/UN DESA). 

• It will continue over the next few days, featuring expert discussions, policy dialogues, and collaborative initiatives to shape the future of sustainable urban development.

What is circular economy?

• A circular economy entails markets that give incentives to reusing products, rather than scrapping them and then extracting new resources.

• This is a departure from the traditional, linear economic model, which is based on a ‘take-make-consume-throw away’ pattern. 

• A circular economy reduces material use, redesigns materials, products, and services to be less resource intensive, and recaptures “waste” as a resource to manufacture new materials and products.

• Different forms of waste, such as clothes, scrap metal and obsolete electronics, are returned to the economy or used more efficiently.

• It involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.

• In practice, it implies reducing waste to a minimum. When a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are kept within the economy wherever possible thanks to recycling. These can be productively used again and again, thereby creating further value.

• This can provide a way to not only protect the environment, but use natural resources more wisely, develop new sectors, create jobs and develop new capabilities.

Significance of circular economy

• Over the past 50 years, resource consumption and material use have risen significantly leading to depletion of natural capital of the planet. Since 1970, resource extraction has surged by nearly 400 per cent and is projected to reach 106.6 billion tonnes in 2024. 

• Studies show that over 90 per cent of all materials extracted and used are wasted, with only 8.6 per cent are reintegrated into the global economy in 2020.

• In a business-as-usual scenario, the material extraction is projected to increase by 60 per cent by 2060, potentially undermining global efforts to meet climate, biodiversity, and pollution targets, as well as threatening economic prosperity and human well-being. 

• For example, half of all greenhouse gas emissions, along with over 90 per cent of biodiversity loss and water stress, originate from resource extraction and processing. 

• Over 60 per cent of planet-warming emissions accounts for 40 per cent of the health impacts associated with air pollution. 

• The decline in natural resources and biodiversity, coupled with the rise in waste generation and diversification, presents unprecedented challenges for effective environmental management and sustainability of ecological assets.

• Asia-Pacific, the world’s most populous and dynamic region, accounts for about two-thirds of global growth and 63 per cent of global material use. 

• While this rapid economic growth has improved living standards, it has also diminished the region’s resource efficiency and natural capital, resulting in shrinking forests, declining biodiversity, and depleted water resources and wetlands. 

• Asian countries face diverse challenges due to their varying economies, available resources, geographic locations, and vulnerabilities to global environmental issues, including frequent climate-induced disasters and socio-economic impacts from climate change. 

• For instance, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Pacific Island countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change effects such as rising sea levels, extreme weather, and plastic pollution which costs economies up to $3.7 trillion over the lifetime of plastics. 

• Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) also encounter significant socio-economic challenges in achieving sustainable development, requiring sustainable infrastructure in areas like energy, transport, health, and waste management to support zero waste societies and a circular economy. 

• Similarly, other sub-regions like ASEAN and South Asia, rich in biodiversity and natural resources, face various environmental and developmental challenges.

• Therefore, any improvements in resource efficiency and sustainable management of natural resources in Asia-Pacific will have significant global impacts.

• At the same time, many countries in Asia and the Pacific have become net importers of raw materials and are nearing their limits on domestically available natural resources and minerals. 

• The policy and scientific communities recognise that challenges such as resource supply security, increasing waste and pollution, and climate change are critical constraints to future growth and rising living standards in the region.

• Waste is intrinsically linked to numerous environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, particularly the leakage of plastics and hazardous chemicals into ecosystems. 

• To address these global and regional challenges associated with inefficient material use and waste management, the principles of a circular economy are becoming increasingly essential. 

• Traditional linear economic models, based on “take-make-dispose” approaches, have led to excessive waste generation and inefficient resource use. 

• In contrast, circular economy principles focus on waste reduction, extended material use, and the regeneration or restoration of natural ecosystems. 

• Circular economy is a closed loop economy in which nearly all wastes or outputs either become inputs to other manufacturing processes or are returned to natural systems as benign emissions rather than as pollutants.

• Circular economy supports carbon neutrality by fostering low-carbon business models, reducing energy consumption, and increasing the use of renewable energy, all of which significantly lower environmental footprints and contribute to combating climate change.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)