Circular Economy in Kuala Lumpur: Progress, Barriers, and Opportunities

Ethics Sustainability
and Social Impact

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
Define and discuss circular economy referring to the theories from which it emerged ........1
Task2................................................................................................................................................3
State example how the circular economy is developing in the city Kuala Lumpur ..............3
Analyse the progress of the circular economy in the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia focusing on the
barriers enabling factors and opportunities for its growth......................................................5
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................7
Propose what companies (local and international) and local government can do to support the
development of circular economy .........................................................................................7
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................8
Report for commonwealth Local government Ministers meeting on key and recommendations
for action ................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
References:.....................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Circular economy, as the name implies, is concerned with continual optimum utilization
of resources by reducing amount of wastage. Circular economy aimed at extending the life cycle
of a product, infrastructure and equipment for longer use thus, contribute in increasing the
productivity of the resources. It can be better understand by a model of production and
consumption in economic system which execute series of activities like reusing, sharing,
repairing, refurbishing, re manufacturing and recycling of a materials and products with the
intention to make a product durable by minimum utilisation of raw materials with minimal or no
generation of waste, pollution and hazardous gases. The objective of a report is to describe in
detail circular economy, how circular economy is adopted in Kuala Lumpur, South Africa along
with challenges and measures and how local companies and government do to support
development of circular economy.
Task 1
Define and discuss circular economy referring to the theories from which it emerged
Circular economy is defined as a model in economic system which is designed and
develop with the prime objective of minimising the resource input along with eliminating the
waste, pollution and carbon emission. The activities of circular economy are designed with the
aim to reach at the maximum level of efficiency in the use of limited resources, be it a product,
infrastructure or equipments, extending the life cycle of these resources by repairing,
refurbishing, recycling, reusing, leading to maximising the productivity of these resources. Liner
economy is a contemporary with circular economy which was based on the concept of take,
make, use and dispose. With the rapid growing population and increasing concern for the
environment has made the liner model less acceptable (Losch, 2019). Liner model can be briefly
understood by (take) which is acquisition of raw materials, (make) conversion of raw materials
into finished goods, (use) consumption of finished goods and (dispose) turn the used goods into
waste. The model does not suggest use of sustainable products that helps in mitigating the risk of
pollution through wastage.
Circular economy is not only the updated version of linear economy but also suitable
option in achieving the objective of sustainability without reducing the profitability of a business.
Circular economy majorly focus on reduction of wastage generated from the consumption along
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with posing the limits on the extraction of raw materials for further production of products.
Circular economy plans and design the activities in such a way that even wastage of a products
may be further reused in another processes as a input (Khan and et. al., 2018). It majorly focus
on the regenerative approach which is remaking and reusing of the materials and products as
much as possible. In other words this economy is based on the concept of make-remake or use-
reuse till the end of useful life of material and products.
Principles of Circular economy Minimization of waste and pollution : The first most significant principle of circular
economy is designing out waste and pollution. It is essential to take into consideration the
impact product or manufacturing units have over the environment. Subsequently, residues
from these factories and waste material after consumption of these products like plastic
bottles, straws, cups, cutlery which act as a deteriorating factor on environment. Circular
economy aims at finding the sources of negative impacts which is generally caused by the
way things are designed and most of the wastage is generated at this stage. Therefore it is
imperative to focus on transitioning this area which will have significant impact
throughout the entire life cycle of materials and products. Circular economy ensures that
the wastage and pollution are not created at the first place of designing (Mani, Jabbour
and Mani, 2020). Extending useful life of products and materials : Most of the products in today's
environment is based on single use and their span of life is very short for example food
and packaging which cause a deteriorating impact on the environment. The second
principle of circular economy is based on extending the life cycle of material and
products. World is facing the challenges of depletion of natural resources which are
extracted for the production of goods and services. Circular economy focus on
conserving finite resources and aims to keep them in a economy as long as possible. The
process of circular economy is consist of reusing, sharing, repairing, refurbishing and
recycling the products and materials with the aim of reducing the waste, pollution and
carbon emission. Furthermore, most of the consumed products end up in a land fill such
as water bottles, juice containers etc., circular economy oblige food and beverage
industry to use a containers which are bio-degradable are used further as a input in any of
the processes.
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