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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
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. 
