What’s the point of the circular economy?

A group of international researchers led by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in Netherlands used 3D printing to create a living material made of algae that could lead to sustainable energy production on Mars as well as a number of other applications, a TU Delft press release explains. The researchers used a novel bioprinting technique to print microalgae into a living, resilient material that is capable of photosynthesis. Their research is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

To make the circular economy work, organisations need to purchase products that have been made from recycled materials. But many materials, especially when they have been contaminated, cannot be recycled. They face a gradual downward slope ending in heat death incineration. It’s about increasing entropy – that is to say, disorder. For which, read usefulness. There’s only so many times paper and plastic can be recycled. There’s only one principle in existence on planet Earth that reverses entropy, creating order from chaos, usefulness from dust – and that is life. Life’s organising principle, from the cell, through organisms, ecosystems, and up to the ecosystem of the entire planet, is what gives us life and our life support system.