"This will improve the local and global competitiveness of the South African manufacturing sector, improve food security through regenerative agriculture, create more sustainable, liveable cities, improve economic development through efficient mobility systems and decouple economic development from the demands placed on our energy and water systems, which are already under considerable strain in South Africa," the CSIR reports.

The CSIR released an introductory note and seven short think pieces to inform the public and private sectors on where immediate circular economy opportunities are achievable within the mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors for human settlements, mobility and energy and water, which are cross-cutting issues.

"South Africa has a very linear, resource-extractive-based economy, with large throughputs of resources, predominantly inland extraction and manufacturing of goods; export of resources for further international beneficiation, little resource investment in local stocks; and even smaller resource returns into the economy."

This places the country at risk in terms of resource depletion or overexploitation, with the potential to directly disrupt the South African economy. Simultaneously, there is growing demand from industrialised countries for access to finite resources.

"The South African government recognises the benefits that a transition to a more circular economy could provide the country. A circular economy would create economic opportunities as new services and business models emerge, transforming the relationship between producer and consumer, and products and their users," says Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) environmental services and technologies director Dr Henry Roman.

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