Chances are, most things that currently surround you have been produced following the principles of the linear economy. From the clothes that you wear to the phone you carry and the packaging of your groceries - all of these were likely produced with just one life cycle in mind, from the moment that you bought them to the moment of their disposal.
Granted, reusable products are becoming more accessible and models for refurbishing, recycling, and reusing certain products are popular. However, the growth paradigm still abounds and is sustained by ongoing mass production and consumption on a global scale.
Prices are kept low for both manufacturers and consumers due to the high production volumes as well as the factoring out of negative externalities, including the enormous environmental impact of waste, pollution, and carbon emissions that are baked into the system.
Our current legal frameworks were developed to ensure that manufacturers internalise profits and externalise the cost of risks during the use of objects to the buyer, and end-of-life costs to society, namely the taxpayer , explains S ren Bauer, head of the Vienna-based NGO REVOLVE Circular.
Such a system can function as long as we do not overstretch the extraction of resources and do not manufacture objects made of synthetic materials, which are - quantitatively and qualitatively - outside nature's absorption capacity. But that is exactly what we have been doing for decades.
-- Play
-- --
A webinar to help journalists and other media professionals understand the circular economy. Recorded on 13th October 2021.
Effectively covering the circular economy means connecting the dots of closed loops rather than repeating marketing lies.
Benedict Wermter, investigative journalist
The circular economy aims to keep resources in play for as long as possible by focusing on higher resource efficiency. It's been heralded as holding the promise for systemic transformation of our society and the way to ease climate change, resource depletion and waste.
The European Commission has incorporated a circular economy action plan as one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal. Many national governments - including China, Nigeria, and Ecuador - are developing their own strategies and roadmaps.
For journalists across several beats and in particular in relation to sustainability, the circular economy is likely something they have had to wrap their heads around.
Explainers on the overall concept are plentiful (and risk taking you down a rabbit hole), yet editors in particular prefer specific examples of the circular - or not so circular - economy in action.
Having covered the blue economy and marine environment extensively, Wanjohi Kabukuru, editor-in-chief at the Indian Ocean Observatory and an environmental reporter based in Kenya, sees a role for the media in storytelling and bringing the intellectually ambitious concept to life:
The circular economy has too few successes, and it is too shy on its narratives of triumph - the critical elements that secure front pages and build narratives. For the blue economy movement, the case of Rodrigues in the Mauritian Archipelago, where well-structured community initiatives turned the devastated flora and fauna of the small island into a biodiversity hotspot, tells such a powerful story.
The circular economy has too few successes, and it is too shy on its narratives of triumph - the critical elements that secure front pages and build narratives.
Wanjohi Kabukuru, editor-in-chief, Indian Ocean Observatory
Others contend that companies and non-profit organisations may well be piggybacking off the concept of a circular economy for profit or political gain. Effectively covering the circular economy means connecting the dots of closed loops rather than repeating marketing lies, says investigative journalist, Benedict Wermter.
Benedict has spent several years researching the recycling efforts of the packaging industry and has uncovered the lobbying power of Green Dot companies in Europe among other stories. His journalistic approach to the circular economy story has been to hold large companies and brands accountable to their marketing claims. Covering circular economy means uncovering greenwash. As a journalist, I hold those responsible who suggest to move towards closed loops.
But it isn't just the industry juggernauts from the Global North that should feature in the discourse on circularity.
This beat is a very interesting one to cover. But it also includes pitfalls, as people with different agendas are using the same discourse as the true change-makers.
Sarah Vandoorne, investigative journalist Sarah Vandoorne, a Belgian investigative journalist, has focused on the textile industry since the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In her reporting, she has combined an investigative approach into the labour rights of garment workers as well as environmental pollution from textile dyeing with a more solutions-based lens, highlighting good practices and questioning dominant narratives.
Covering aspects of both the linear and the circular economy in the textile industry have led her to contemplate on her role as a journalist in a world with resource scarcity: I became a journalist out of idealism. In this light, this beat is a very interesting one to cover. But it also includes pitfalls, as people with different agendas (industry related or not) are using the same discourse as the true change-makers. So how do I tell the difference? And how do I remain unbiased? While at the same time realising, as an idealist, of course I'm biased. The thing is: my only bias is saving our environment (trying to, at least) and challenging structural inequality.
Related content
Environmental journalism | Why local matte
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Chances are, most things that currently surround you have been produced following the principles of the linear economy. From the clothes that you wear to the phone you carry and the packaging of your groceries - all of these were likely produced with just one life cycle in mind, from the moment that you bought them to the moment of their disposal. 
