The circular economy can reduce by almost a third the current consumption of resources and raw materials worldwide, extending the life of products and ensuring their income complete life cyclesby processing and reintegration into productionand this occurs without affecting the supply and quality of basic goods and services (food, mobility, housing and infrastructure or consumer goods), quality of life or socio-economic progress, indicates the study “The Circularity Gap”, conducted by the international agency Circle Economy in cooperation with Deloitte. Over the past 50 years, global consumption of resources and raw materials has tripled, consume per capita almost double the equilibrium threshold and has been exploited and exploited by the global economy for the past six years more than in the entire 20th centurycreating great natural imbalances and unstable prospectsfor many regions, species and industriesresearch also shows.

However, the rate of transition to a closed-loop economy remains low compared to the annual volume of resource exploitation, including vulnerable or virgin resources. World economy now circular proportionally only 7.2%, decreased compared to 2018, when it was estimated at 9.1% in the first edition of the study. It is about a percent decreaseand not in an absolute sense, which indicates that it is exploited and consumed more and more more and less responsibleand the industrial policy of greening is not keeping up.

“The circular economy means more than recycling and greening, and its principles are use less, use longer, make clean, use again – respond to at least two of today’s big challenges for industry and the economy: resource availability and carbon reduction. The level of circularity, which is currently only 7.2% in the global economy and has been steadily decreasing in recent years, shows that industries remain ambitious and competitive, despite the difficulties of recent years, but inefficiently use resources and raw materials. The study proposes a number of solutions to reduce consumption, organized around three main principles: abbreviation, regeneration and redistributionapplicable to all categories of industries and resources and is based on the idea that every wasteful waste is a lost chance for sustainable development,” said Sorin Elisey,Director of Deloitte Romania, head of practice stability and energy.

From an ecological point of view, the study gives alarming conclusions: over the past 30 years, the total area of ​​more than 420 million hectareswhile close half of the planet’s soils were seriously degradedoceans have acidity more than 30% above the permissible limits, 85% of fish stocks are destroyed, and wildlife has decreased by 70%. In addition, fish 70% of carbon emissions worldwide, they originate from the extraction and processing of natural resources in classical processes linear economy (brothers, do, waste).

The study shows that abandonment of fossil fuels and decrease in demand for mineral aggregatessuch as sand and gravel, are activities that may have an immediate impact on this state of affairs, and industries with major impacts on air, soil and water quality such as Food Industry (responsible for almost a third of greenhouse gas emissions and the main cause of biodiversity loss), manufacturing industry (the main source of chemical pollution and slowly decomposing waste), building (responsible for 55% of electricity consumption and a quarter of degraded soils worldwide) and TRANSPORT (almost half of carbon emissions, with the prospect of exceeding 60% by 2050), should be considered a priority.

“Romania is taking the first steps in the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy, a complex and long-term process. In 2021, the Romanian economy was only 1.4% circular compared to the EU average of 11.7%. The National Circular Economy Strategy, adopted in September 2022 and to be supplemented by the Action Plan by the third quarter of this year, gives an important and timely signal. This identified the first seven economic sectors as cyclical development potential for Romania – agriculture and forestry, automobiles, construction, food and beverage production, packaging, textiles, electrical and electronic equipment – ​​which the study also recommends will be targeted for specific actions and priority in the Action Plan. Practically all these areas will create important business opportunities for companies that will have new facilities and sources of public and private financing at their disposal,” he said. Adrian Timpau,Director of Tax Services, Deloitte Romania.

The study also points out unfairness of resource-based economic benefits used all over the world. In the past 50 years, the world’s population has doubled, but resource consumption has more than tripled, with the benefits clearly favoring the consolidated economies of North America and Europe. Only in 2015 eight great savings (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, the USA, Canada and the Russian Federation), produced over 85% of global greenhouse gases. Currently, the numbers are rising rapidly in emerging economies and are estimated to be, for example, only China responsible for 75% increase in consumption raw materials over the past 20 years.

The solutions proposed in the study aim to three categories of states, depending on the size and footprint of their economies in the global resource consumption equation. First, MEMBER Shift, with a high per capita income and a high standard of living, which consumes most of the resources and is the cause of the main natural imbalances; this category includes European and North American states, Australia, the Persian Gulf and the Far East, which must reduce excessive consumption and accelerate efforts to greening of means of production, the study recommends. The next category, MEMBER Grow, includes China, the countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Central Asia and Latin America, which are rapidly industrializing and whose middle class is growing; they have been consuming significantly more in recent years and, according to the report, should focus on a stabilize resource consumption. The last category, MEMBER Buildrefers to countries and territories in Africa, South and Southeast Asia that, although home to the majority of the world’s population, consume less than 10% of what the state consumes Shift and presents important social and economic gaps. They should benefit from consumption quotas released by other categories, develop their infrastructure and bring their standard of living up to Western standards. International cooperation and public-private partnership The study also emphasizes that they are important for the aggregation of these goals, their planning and implementation.

Deloitte provides global audit, tax and legal advisory, consulting, financial advisory and risk management services to approximately 90% of the Fortune Global 500® companies and thousands of private sector companies. The firm’s experts help deliver measurable and lasting results that help build confidence in capital markets, enabling companies to transform, thrive and pave the way for a stronger economy, a fairer society and a sustainable world. With more than 175 years of history, Deloitte covers more than 150 countries and territories. Its goal is to create a visible impact on society with the help of approximately 415,000 professionals worldwide.

Deloitte Romania is one of the largest professional firms in our country and offers in cooperation with Reff & Asociații | Deloitte Legal, audit services, tax consulting, legal services, consulting and risk management, financial consulting, service solutions and technology consulting, and other related services provided by more than 3,000 professionals.

To learn more about the global network of member firms, visit www.deloitte.com/ro/despre.