Everything you need to know about ecological economics

Nov 19, 2019

A worker sorts waste plastic bottles at a recycling centre in the outskirts of Beijing April 26, 2013. China's National Development and Reform Commission announced that in an attempt to develop a circular economy, it will increase the annual output value of its resource recycling industry to 1.8 trillion yuan ($287 billion) by 2015, according to Xinhua. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT ENERGY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1E94Q1E6P01

A circular economy is a term used more frequently in recent years, trying to reduce this kind of waste. Instead, the aim is to re-purpose waste for reuse. Image: REUTERS/Kim Kyung

Anitra Nelson

Associate Professor, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University

Brian Coffey

Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University

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Examples of wastage and linear externalities in today's linear cities

Cities currently consume around 70% of the world's resources. Image: European Investment Bank

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Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen was one of the first economists to argue that an economy faces limits to growth as a result of resource depletion.

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