Barriers To Circular Economy (image: unsplash)

The benefits of a circular economy is abundant. But there are multiple barriers and challenges hindering its implementation.

Some of the barriers that impede the transition to a circular economy are listed below:

Lack of Consumer Awareness and Interest

One of the main impediments to the implementation of circular economy is that most consumers are not equipped with adequate subject knowledge; hence, its positive framework is entirely missed out. Even if they are aware of it, the conflict arises from meeting consumers’s expectations. Consumers may look at circular products as inferior in nature and against their convenient existence.

Also Read | Circular Economy And Its Four Main Concepts

Regulatory Environment

Sometimes, the laws and regulatory barriers put forward by the government can unintentionally generate wasteful behavior among companies and consumers. If the government’s regulatory framework builds for a linear economic model, the circular model remains neglected. Also, lack of legislative measures and government incentives hampers implementation of circular model initiatives.

Absence of Effective Technologies

The studies point out that the shortage of technological capacity of organisations and the lack of external availability to access such resources have caused a significant barrier in advancing the circular economic model. For instance, a better recycling technology is important in sustaining the quality and purity of the recycled plastic, which is currently at a stage where the same or similar quality is struggling to reproduce.

Also Read | The 7 Pillars Of Circular Economy

Company And Products

Another pressing barrier is created by the product in terms of material and design. Certain products do not permit replacement without negatively impacting product quality. Similarly, design challenges are encountered in the reusability of product elements. Besides, the company’s business models which are stuck in linear models, and not adopting any plans to embrace the circular model creates barriers. More than that, since companies require huge investments on various fronts for their transition to a circular economy, they are resistant to it.