In more recent years, the drive for economic growth has moved to include a greater shift towards more sustainable business models. The Circular Economy (CE) model has been promoted as one such model in vast contrast to the existing traditional linear model of extract, produce, use and dump (see diagram 1 below). 
The purpose of this article is three-fold: to provide an understanding of the CE; to highlight the benefits and challenges to a country such as Barbados in the transition to a CE; and to reveal some of the efforts currently underway to transition Barbados to a CE.
The concept of a CE cannot be traced to a particular period in time, date or author (Stahel 2020). Instead, the development of the CE is aligned with many different schools of thought stemming from: i) a system of bartering used to sustain consumption of natural capital—food, land and water—and to protect and conserve all natural global commons (i.e. those parts of the planet to which all nations have access); ii) industrialisation and the inclusion of repairing, re-using or re-manufacturing items; iii) the Performance Economy where the performance or function of items are sold for example, through renting or leasing instead of selling them. In Barbados, we may be more familiar with earlier versions of circularity driven by scarcity and poverty – the idea of reusing and repurposing objects and utilising skills to repair used items to retain value or to extend their useful lives, this is a simple example. Diagram 2 below shows how the CE works to bring items previously used back to the market to promote sustainability and to reduce waste. 
One definition of the Circular Economy (CE) is as follows:
“an economic system that is based on business models which replace the ‘end-of-life’ concept with reducing, alternatively reusing, recycling and recovering materials in production or distribution…with an aim to accomplish sustainable development which implies creating environmental quality, economic prosperity and social equity to the benefit of current and future generations” (Kirchherr, Reike, and Hekkert 2017).
While in general, the principles of the CE may appear to be best suited to the manufacturing, retail, agricultural and waste disposal/recycling sectors, such an economy has implications throughout the value chain to include the financial and services sectors.
There are numerous benefits to be derived from any economy’s transition from a Linear to a CE as is shown in the comparative table below. 
For a country like Barbados, limited in size and the amount of waste that it can reasonably dispose of in its sole landfill, the transition to a CE presents many opportunities through waste reduction, and the establishment of new innovations once holistically embraced.
To date, one recycling centre has committed to a sustainable approach to waste reduction. However, this is not enough and, there needs to be a greater push in the right direction especially now with the influx of electric vehicles and batteries which once they become inoperable will require disposal. This will pose additional problems in the future unless reasonable solutions can be imagined for these future problems.
Other benefits to Barbados as it transitions to a CE are that it may stimulate economic growth through the creation of new jobs and investment opportunities centred around recycling, repair and manufacturing. Additionally, it will significantly allow Barbados to move towards achieving its renewable energy targets in its fight against climate change.
Finally, the CE can also assist as we build our local capacity to become a more self-reliant and resilient economy less susceptible to global market fluctuations and disruptions.
However, although interest in the CE has increased and the benefits are easily identifiable, questions about the adoption of its principles and how existing production processes may be revamped to allow compatibility with the circularity principle are often posed. Further, the CE has faced criticism for not being a new concept and for its lack of universal definition (yes, there are many definitions of circularity and a CE). Another major argument against circularity states that while it reduces the amount of waste being disposed of, the process also consumes additional resources and may still create further waste and emissions.
Finally, most Bajans understand that as a people, we are full of ideas and that innovation thrives and is at its peak on this island, however, just like with the concept of a CE, implementation of plans and new concepts is often severely lacking. However, only recently, the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management held a Business Roundtable Forum in conjunction with Aston Business School (UK) to introduce the concept of a CE to local business leaders and to determine how this project could be implemented and advanced in our economy. The turnout was encouraging as representatives from the banking, financial and accounting sectors; manufacturing, agricultural and hotel and catering sectors as well as those from waste recycling sectors were present. Presentations on the CE were led by Dr. Dion Greenidge, Executive Director and CEO, Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management and Professor Pawan Budhwar, Professor of International HRM and Associate Pro Vice Chancellor International, Aston University.
Subsequent to a discussion on the CE and presentation of case studies, the forum set out to engage in an interactive session for sectoral roundtable discussions. These discussions focused on how specific sectors could contribute to transitioning Barbados to a CE.
The process continues with further proposed sector specific discussions to outline how the transition should be executed.
As Barbados positions itself to embrace the CE, it may benefit from being considered as a sustainable and forward-thinking nation, ready to foster economic prosperity, environmental protection and resilience in the face of global and climate challenges.
Diana Weekes-Marshall is a Lecturer in Accounting at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and a Chartered Accountant.
References:
Kirchherr, Julian, Denise Reike, and Marko Hekkert. 2017. “Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions.” Resources, conservation and recycling 127:221-232.
Ozili, Peterson K. 2021. “Circular economy, banks, and other financial institutions: what’s in it for them?” Circular Economy and Sustainability 1 (3):787-798.
Stahel, Walter R. 2020. “History of the circular economy. The historic development of circularity and the circular economy.” In The Circular Economy in the European Union: An Interim Review, 7-19. ]]>
