Knowra Circular economy Circular economy An economic system designed to reduce waste by keeping products and materials in use through strategies such as reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.
Product life extension : Strategies that extend a product’s useful life through maintenance, repair, upgrading, or reuse. Keeping products useful for longer delays replacement and reduces demand for new materials.
Linear economy : An economic model that extracts resources, makes products, and discards them after use. Its take-make-dispose flow is the pattern circular strategies seek to replace.
Repair economy : Economic activity centered on maintaining and repairing goods rather than replacing them. Repair preserves product function while reducing demand for replacements and virgin materials.
Downcycling : Recycling that turns a material into a lower-quality or less functional product. Material recovery can lose quality, so not every loop preserves the original value.
European Green Deal : A European Union policy program for climate neutrality, environmental protection, and economic transformation. It places circularity among the policy tools for reducing resource use and environmental harm.
Design for disassembly : Product design that makes components easier to separate for repair, reuse, or material recovery. Disassembly makes it possible to recover valuable parts at a product’s end of use.
Life-cycle assessment : A method for measuring a product’s environmental impacts across its life cycle. Life-cycle assessment helps test whether a circular option reduces impacts overall.
Deposit-refund system : A policy that charges a deposit on a product and refunds it when the item is returned. Refunds encourage the return of containers and other recoverable products.
Rebound effect : An increase in resource use that offsets some or all gains from improved efficiency. Cheaper or more efficient circular services can increase consumption and weaken environmental benefits.
EU Circular Economy Action Plan : A European Union policy plan to promote sustainable products and reduce waste across product value chains. It translates circular-economy goals into product rules, markets, and waste policies.
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