circular economy

No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends

by Richard Dobbs and James Manyika  · 12 May 2015  · 389pp  · 87,758 words

to minimize production waste. The combination of these measures helped the company significantly reduce the supply chain cost in its Mexican operations. Move Toward a Circular Economy In order to fully realize the benefits of resource productivity, you’ll also need to reset your intuition about the life cycles of products. Rather

…

than continue to rely on a take-make-dispose model of material use in manufacturing, many smart companies are tapping into the rapidly developing circular economy. The circular economy creates value by better design and optimization of products for multiple cycles of disassembly and reuse. While it is hardly a new concept—people have

…

been composting food scraps for centuries—the circular economy remains a relatively niche approach for most manufacturers. Often, such efforts may consist of only a few showcase products that constitute less than 5 percent

…

of the overall portfolio.45 In order to succeed at building a circular economy, your business should focus on the logistics and economics of turning finished products back into materials: rethinking product design and creating new rent, lease, and

…

take-back schemes that will resonate with customers and distributors. In order to truly spur the creation of robust circular economy value chains, new regulatory schemes, standards, and incentives that influence behavior beyond the factory floor may be required.46 The plant of French carmaker Renault

…

in Choisy-le-Roi, near Paris, is one of the best-known examples of the circular economy in action. The factory remanufactures automotive engines, transmissions, injection pumps, and other components for resale and generates about $270 million in revenue annually. Renault redesigns

…

’s energy, materials, food, and water needs. 46. Hanh Nguyen, Martin Stuchtey, and Markus Zils, “Remaking the industrial economy,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2014. 47. “The circular economy applied to the automotive industry,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, July 24, 2013. 48. “Ricoh grows services business expertise” (press release), Ricoh, July 26, 2013, www.ricoh

…

Audi, 175 Australia, 120, 141, 159 (table) Automotive manufacturing industry agility in, 82–83 aging talent retention in, 65 capital productivity optimization in, 141–142 circular economy approach in, 124 design for switchability in, 128 new competitor adaptation in, 175–176 R&D, 141–142 robotics in, 53 sector crossover of, 173

…

) Inner Mongolia, 135 Shanghai, 21 (fig.), 24, 71 Shenzhen, 101 Tianjin, 5, 21 (fig.) Wuhan, 58–59 China’s Second Continent (French), 77 Cignifi, 177 Circular economy, 123–125 Cities. See Emerging cities; Megacities; Urbanization Clamadieu, Jean-Pierre, 108 Clarks Village, 93–94 Climate change, 119 Cloud technologies, 38, 172 Coca-Cola

…

, 31–32, 143 Lyft, 47, 48, 154 Ma, Jack, 165 Mangalyaan (spacecraft), 3 Manufacturing agility in, 82–83 automation of, 151–152, 153 (table), 154 circular economy approach to, 123–125 commodity demand increase in, 114–116, 117 (table) cycle time reduction in, 141 economic center of gravity and, 17 energy efficiency

…

for, 27–28 globalized digital platforms for, 85–86 in oil extraction recovery, 125–126 Resource management, 111–129 adaptation to, 9–10, 120–128 circular economy approach to, 123–125 demand increase and, 114–116, 117 (table) energy efficiency for, 122, 123, 125–127 environmental conservation and, 119–120, 122 globalization

Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities

by Vaclav Smil  · 23 Sep 2019

-oriented policies assuming that such a decoupling, and continued GDP growth, is possible. And it is similarly misleading to talk about any imminent practice of circular economy. Modern economies are based on massive linear flows of energy, fertilizers, other agrochemicals, and water required to produce food, and on even more massive energy

99%: Mass Impoverishment and How We Can End It

by Mark Thomas  · 7 Aug 2019  · 286pp  · 79,305 words

high-quality jobs. 3. Sustainability: Cities that provide services without stealing from future generations.19 Even more fundamentally, the concept of a ‘closed-loop’ or ‘circular’ economy offers the potential to minimize waste, to reduce costs, to prevent harmful pollution such as greenhouse gas emissions and degradation of the natural world, and

…

be a trade-off between economic growth and sustainability. The diagram below, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, illustrates the biological and technical cycles in the circular economy as well as the three key principles:20 1. preserve and enhance natural capital by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows; 2. optimize

…

times in both technical and biological cycles; 3. foster system effectiveness by revealing and designing-out negative externalities. Figure 19: The key cycles in the circular economy Source: The Ellen MacArthur Foundation Taken together, these technologies and business models will have some extraordinary impacts, not the least of which is that the

…

externalities. Such a world would be far more sustainable. Our current – financial only – definition of profit makes it harder for companies to migrate towards a circular economy. Correctly charging them for their externalities – what Margaret Thatcher called the ‘polluter pays’ principle – brings their incentives in line with the needs of society at

…

have the happiest populations. I would also like to express my thanks to The Ellen MacArthur Foundation for permission to reproduce the infographic explaining the circular economy. And there are hundreds of others whose insights I have briefly quoted in this book. I am grateful to them all, though they are too

Money: 5,000 Years of Debt and Power

by Michel Aglietta  · 23 Oct 2018  · 665pp  · 146,542 words

to develop a common policy able to feed investment across a vast terrain, ranging from energy to transport, renovating buildings and regenerating territory through the circular economy. Whether this means establishing a European treasury or developing the existing European budget, the essential thing is to arrive at a fiscal union that stands

Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made

by Vaclav Smil  · 2 Mar 2021  · 1,324pp  · 159,290 words

%); and enormous increases in the use of materials (cement and aluminum output rising 2.6-fold and steel output more than doubling). Sustainable growth and circular economy are fashionable phrases but the first notion has only tenuous links to reality of the early 21st century, and the second one is a biophysical

…

efficient economic activities (be it in terms of energy, mass, or residual output) must be encouraged but any claims that we could create a truly circular economy are delusionary. A high degree of global economic integration is yet another, now deeply embedded, economic reality that works against reducing energy and material inputs

…

, 269 total dependency ratio, 45 urbanization, 61 Chittenden, Russell Henry, 97–98 Chorley, G. P. H., 157 CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), 81 circular economy, impossibility of, 284–85 cities. See also urbanization energy needs, 275 environmental improvements to, 66 large cities, eastward shift in, 62 megacities, 8–9, 46

Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters

by Oliver Franklin-Wallis  · 21 Jun 2023  · 309pp  · 121,279 words

basic right, whereas for people who struggle for their basic needs – food, water, education – it’s a luxury. In our debates about recycling and the circular economy, it’s worth considering that in low-income countries, 93 per cent of waste ends up dumped. In high-income countries, the figure is only

…

Green Recycling: that the roiling mass of Amazon boxes on the conveyors would be sent to Kent and become new boxes within a fortnight. The circular economy made manifest. This I had to see. Outside the paper mill, a queue of 14-tonne lorries files sluggishly through the front gate towards the

…

horror story about plastics, but really did our industry a lot of good,’ Chris says. ‘It really focused people’s attention on plastics and the circular economy.’ Packaging brands have been falling over themselves to adopt recycled plastics ever since. For Biffa, plastics recycling is an inevitable extension of its waste collection

…

PET passing through the line at Seaham relies on a certain proportion of virgin bottles within the bales.64 For all the talk of the ‘circular economy’, recycling relies on our ravenous consumption of the new. As well as haze, the pellets are tested for contaminants: Bisphenol-A (BPA), benzene, formaldehyde. ‘All

…

thrown, but given. * * * I first met Oleksii Kotyk at a recycling conference. There, as suited executives from the big waste firms gave talks about the circular economy while their stalls handed out single-use plastic tat like candy, and gruff waste dealers admired massive German-made shredders and track shovels like toddlers

…

, a textile recycler based in Leicester. A serious man with a square face, framed with half-rimmed glasses, he is a passionate believer in the circular economy, and in the value of reuse. He is also, unlike many, totally open about what actually happens to our donations. ‘What we’re doing is

…

the real circular economy,’ he told me. Did I want to come to their plant and see it for myself? Did I ever. Pink Elephant Recycling is a deceptive

…

not just a warning, something for the West to feel guilty about and greenwash over. Look closely, and it’s a model of what the circular economy could look like: reusing what we have already made. ‘We don’t need new. If we are able to create a proper

…

circular economy when it comes to clothing, we wouldn’t need to produce more clothes for the next thirty years,’ he says. ‘There are enough clothes produced

…

grew, so did the supply of human fertiliser, thereby improving the yields of the surrounding farms, in an odorous – but entirely natural and organic – early circular economy. It was in 1775 that a watchmaker named Alexander Cummings registered a patent for a flushing privy, inspired by a design installed for Queen Elizabeth

…

model our economy on natural cycles of breakdown and renewal. To Murray and his acolytes, zero waste – or as we now often call it, the ‘circular economy’ – is a radical shift, one that ‘challenges the whole way we think of things and their uses, about how we define ourselves and our status

…

recycle our waste. But for every group making an actual difference, there was far more corporate greenwashing by massive multinationals under the guise of the circular economy. One of the favourite new greenwashing tactics, for example, is for brands to advertise products made of ‘ocean plastic’ (as opposed to plastic still actually

…

the ocean and rivers, though their efforts to date are tiny compared with the size of the problem.) Whenever I see big brands discussing the circular economy, I think back to something that Oleksii told me at Pink Recycling. As a textile trader, he’d been invited to events and industry discussions

…

on the circular economy with major retailers. ‘When you try to go back to supermarkets and tell them to produce better quality at higher prices, to sell less, they

…

and say, “I can show you how to sell more, make more money.” Then they will engage with you.’ Oleksii painted a picture of a ‘circular’ economy that is almost the antithesis of its original goal, but which felt all too realistic, if current trends continue. ‘You will have a factory that

…

I pass the clothing ‘recycling’ bins that have recently started appearing outside superstores. This is the risk that any discussion about the circular economy faces. There is a vision of the circular economy that is about slower consumption, about valuing things, about consuming less and polluting less. But there is also another, more corporate

…

be recycled a handful of times, pulp fibres that shorten and snap – requiring a constant supply of new feedstock. When corporations show imagery of the ‘circular economy’, they often show a literal circle, with nothing leaving. Others might show a small stream leaving the loop – like nuclear waste, which is always left

…

largest shakeup of their waste and recycling laws in decades. Some of the world’s most polluting corporations have signed major commitments towards a more circular economy, including Coca-Cola, Unilever, and P&G. In the UK, the Conservative government is planning to introduce deposit return schemes, under a slate of new

…

-waste-off-Italy.html 13 Jandira Morais, Glen Corder et al., ‘Global review of human waste-picking and its contribution to poverty alleviation and a circular economy’, Environmental Research Letters, 2022. See also International Labour Organization, Sustainable development, decent work and green jobs (2013). 14 Martin V. Melosi, Garbage in the Cities

…

, are nearly as large. 2 Jandira Morais, Glen Corder et al., ‘Global review of human waste-picking and its contribution to poverty alleviation and a circular economy’, Environmental Research Letters (2022). See also International Labour Organization, Sustainable development, decent work and green jobs (2013). 3 Due to the irregularity of the census

…

Environmental Woes, in Films That Go Viral, Then Vanish’, New York Times, 28/04/2017. 20 European Commission, A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, 2018, p. 16. 21 Amy L. Brooks, Shunli Wang and Jenna Jambeck, ‘The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade’, Science

…

-waste-hazardous-healthcare-environment-services-hsj-a8569146.html 15 Heather Rogers, Gone Tomorrow (New York: The New Press), 2005, p. 5. 16 ‘Energy for the Circular Economy: an overview of Energy from Waste in the UK’, Environmental Services Association, 2018: http://www.esauk.org/application/files/7715/3589/6450/20180606_Energy_for

…

_the_circular_economy_an_overview_of_EfW_in_the_UK.pdf 17 Josephine Moulds, ‘Dirty white elephants’, SourceMaterial, 04/02/2021: https://www.source-material.org/blog/dirty

…

-ghana/ 25 Heather Snowden, ‘This is what actually happens to your donated clothes’, High Snobiety, 2021: https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/kantamanto-market-the-or-circular-economy-fashion/ 26 Sally Baden and Catherine Barber, ‘The impact of the second-hand clothing trade on developing countries’, Oxfam, 2005: https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream

…

://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00338-6 37 Yara, ‘Veolia and Yara partner to propel European circular economy’, 21/01/2019: https://www.yara.com/corporate-releases/veolia-and-yara-partner-to-propel-european-circular-economy/ 38 Monbiot, Regenesis, p. 66. 39 Tom Perkins, ‘Forever chemicals may have polluted 20m acres of US

…

, pp. 824–38 (Kindle iOS edition). 44 Katarzyna Chojnacka, Dawid Skrzypczak et al., ‘Progress in sustainable technologies of leather wastes valorization as solutions for the circular economy’, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 313 (2021): DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127902 45 Kazi Madina Maraz, ‘Benefits and problems of chrome tanning in

…

-disposal-waste-crisis/587045/ 10. CONTROL, DELETE 1 Vanessa Forti, Cornelis Peter Baldé et al., The Global E-waste Monitor 2020: Quantities, flows, and the circular economy potential, United Nations University and United Nations Institute for Training and Research, 2020. 2 Simon O’Dea, ‘Number of smartphones sold to end users worldwide

…

-pollution-artisanal-and-small-scale-gold-mining 16 Maedeh Tayebi-Khorami, Mansour Edraki et al., ‘Re-Thinking Mining Waste through an Integrative Approach Led by Circular Economy Aspirations’, Minerals 9(5), 2019, p. 286: DOI: 10.3390/min9050286 17 Cal Flyn, Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape (London: William

…

, 231n, 233, 235, 236–7, 244–5; chromium-6 231, 237 Church of England 275 Church Rock, New Mexico 295–6 cigarette filters 4–5 circular economy 40, 42, 57, 69, 113, 141, 148, 321, 324–5, 326, 331 circulatory system 215–16 Civil Nuclear Constabulary 297–8 ‘clamps’ (composting vessels) 204

Frugal Innovation: How to Do Better With Less

by Jaideep Prabhu Navi Radjou  · 15 Feb 2015  · 400pp  · 88,647 words

chain A frugal services revolution Frugal organisations Recommendations for managers Conclusion 4 Principle three: create sustainable solutions Essential – not optional – sustainability The rise of the circular economy Widening the sharing economy From the circular to the spiral economy Recommendations for managers Conclusion 5 Principle four: shape customer behaviour Three contradictions of contemporary

…

value chain New methods of design, production and distribution allow for the continual reuse of parts and components, reducing waste and creating a so-called circular economy. In contrast to the traditional linear economy, in which products are designed, built, sold and consumed, and end up in landfills, the

…

circular economy reuses materials, even waste. The World Economic Forum believes that the circular economy could save $1 trillion a year in major economies by 2025 by using resources better. Mass customisation The 20th century

…

Tarkett “to become the industry benchmark for achieving high standards in sustainability”. In 2013, it became one of the first global companies to join the “Circular Economy 100” programme. Initiated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, this programme regroups over 100 companies committed to supporting the development of a sustainable economic growth model

…

, making and selling products and services with a lower environmental impact. It describes how to implement sustainable practices such as cradle-to-cradle and the circular economy (where components and materials are repeatedly recycled) to design and manufacture waste-free products of value to customers. It shows how the sharing economy – in

…

of revenue. And it explains how some pioneering firms are using techniques such as upcycling to combine and integrate the principles of the sharing and circular economies, thus paving the way for the “spiral economy”: a virtuous system that generates ever more value while reducing waste and the use of natural resources

…

loyalty. These enlightened leaders transcend the sustainability-versusprofitability debate, seeing sustainability as a competitive advantage. Underlying their business models are two defining operating principles: the circular economy (the indefinite reuse and recycling of materials); and the sharing economy (where products and services are shared rather than owned). The rise of the

…

circular economy GAPP AA.ORG The dominant model of production and consumption in the 20th century was linear. Firms made products, and consumers used and disposed of

…

, however, firms and consumers have started to reduce, recycle and reuse products, thus giving rise to a circular economy (thanks in large part to ideas from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation). According to McKinsey & Company, adopting circular economy principles could save the global consumer-goods sector alone $700 billion annually. This is perhaps a modest

…

of the global economy by $1 trillion annually by 2025, and create 100,000 jobs over the next five years. An early adopter of the circular economy was method, a cleaning-products supplier founded in 2000 by two childhood friends, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, who disliked the poorly designed, smelly, ineffective

…

. There is no compromise or trade-off. Indeed, sustainability lies at the heart of its product development strategy. It has embraced a variant of the circular economy, cradle-tocradle design (C2C for short), popularised by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle.5 Inspired by nature’s

…

after a single use. C2C is not just a warm and fuzzy CSR practice; it is a game-changing business practice – the cornerstone of the circular economy. Indeed, C2C is essential for truly frugal innovation. By embedding it into the business model, companies can create self-sustaining products and services and drive

…

of biomimicry, companies are able to significantly reduce their supply chain costs and pass these savings on to customers. Widening the sharing economy In a circular economy, a product undergoes multiple incarnations – with its materials being recycled and reused again and again – thus sustaining its value over multiple lifetimes. During any particular

…

environmentally friendly proposition to city dwellers of the future,” says von Eschenbach. Kingfisher, Europe’s largest home-improvement retailer and a founding member of the Circular Economy 100, has long been concerned about its dependence on natural resources such as timber (Kingfisher’s annual wood consumption is equivalent to a forest the

…

increasing farmland yields with less water. Share assets and resources with other companies – and make big savings Industrial firms should together implement the sharing and circular economy in two important ways. First, they should integrate their own value chain with those of other manufacturers, as often in business “one man’s trash

…

circular, as eco-aware customers aspire to live and work in energy-positive buildings and consume eco-friendly, recyclable products. To succeed in the emerging circular economy, companies must consider sustainability in their design decisions. They must reframe sustainability as being “more good” rather than “less bad”. Customers will chafe at the

…

L’Innovation Jugaad, published by Diateino in 2013. It is published with the permission of Diateino. 4Principle three: create sustainable solutions 1“Tarkett joins the ‘Circular Economy 100’ program”, Tarkett, February 8th 2013. 2“Fixing Capitalism: Paul Polman interview”, Confederation of British Industry (CBI), November 14th 2012. 3“A water warning”, The

…

198 R&D 40, 188, 206 selling into 187–8 shifting production from 55, 56 Christchurch (New Zealand) 93 Chrysler 166 circular economy 9, 76–7, 80–4, 159–60, 195–6 “Circular Economy 100” 76–7, 86 circular supply chains 193 Cisco 17, 29, 65, 110 CISL (University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability

…

, 87, 93, 142, 159 e-waste 87–8 electronic and electrical goods (EU) 8, 79 by Tarkett 73–7 water 83, 175 see also C2C; circular economy Recy’Go 92–3 regional champions 182 regulation 7–8, 13, 78–9, 103, 216 Reich, Joshua 124 RelayRides 17 Renault 1–5, 12, 117

…

of 15–16, 80, 91 recommendations for managers 90–3 regulatory demand for 78–9, 216 standard bearers of 80, 97, 215 see also Accor; circular economy; Kingfisher; Marks & Spencer; Tarkett; Unilever sustainable design 82–4 see also C2C sustainable distribution 57, 161 sustainable growth 72, 76–7 sustainable lifestyles 107–8

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

by Klaus Schwab  · 11 Jan 2016  · 179pp  · 43,441 words

circuit boards to aerospace industry parts. The recent discovery of new classes of recyclable thermosetting polymers called polyhexahydrotriazines (PHTs) is a major step towards the circular economy, which is regenerative by design and works by decoupling growth and resource needs.8 2.1.2 Digital One of the main bridges between the

…

world to achieve huge gains in resource use and efficiency. As Project MainStream, the World Economic Forum’s initiative to accelerate the transition to the circular economy, has shown, the promise is not just that individuals, organizations and governments can have less impact on the natural world but also that there is

…

logistics costs, with the possibility of huge energy savings101 – Contributing to abundant local activities; crafting own goods that benefit from the removal of logistics costs (circular economy) Negative impacts – Global and regional supply and logistics chain: lower demand resulting in job losses – Gun control: opening opportunities for printing objects with high levels

Prosperity Without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow

by Tim Jackson  · 8 Dec 2016  · 573pp  · 115,489 words

sources and selling non-material services, not polluting products’.10 The same idea is implicit in the concept of the ‘circular economy’, popularised in recent years by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The circular economy is characterised by strategies of reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling. The overall aim is reduce the linear throughput associated without

…

attention to durability and repairability. Construction must prioritise refurbishment of existing buildings and the design of new sustainable and repairable infrastructures. The model of the ‘circular economy’ has much to offer here.13 Investment will be absolutely vital to achieve this transformation. And this represents a radical change in the nature of

…

for the Economics of Sustainability) for suggesting the terminology of the Cinderella economy. 10 Ayres (2008: 292). See also BERR (2008). 11 On circular economy, see www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy (accessed 26 March 2016). See also Allwood and Cullen (2015), Stahel and Jackson (1993). 12 ILO (2015: 19). 13 Keynes (1930). For some

…

, Duane 1981. Voluntary Simplicity – Towards a Way of Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich, reprinted 1993. New York: William Morrow. EMF 2015. Towards a Circular Economy: Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition. Cowes, Isle of Wight: Ellen McArthur Foundation. Online at www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/TCE_Ellen-MacArthur-Foundation_9

…

Press. Weber, Max 1958. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Talcott Parsons. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Webster, Ken 2015. The Circular Economy – A Wealth of Flows. Cowes, Isle of Wight: Ellen McArthur Foundation Publishing. White, Allen, Mark Stoughton and Linda Feng 1999. ‘Servicizing: the quiet transition to

…

76 choice, moving beyond consumerism 216–18 see also freedom/autonomy Christian doctrine see religious perspectives chromium, commodity price 13 Cinderella economy 219–21, 224 circular economy 144, 220 circular flow of the economy 107, 113 see also engine of growth citizen’s income 207 see also universal basic income civil unrest

Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World

by Gaia Vince  · 22 Aug 2022  · 302pp  · 92,206 words

their economy, which currently relies on fishing and grants from Copenhagen. On that occasion, the environment won. Resource scarcity will force a move towards a circular economy, in which every product’s end of life is considered at the design stage so materials can be easily reused and cycled continually with little

…

; and rivers fed by glaciers; and sulphate cooling Dubai Duluth, Minnesota Dunbar, Robin economies; Chinese domination of far east; economic growth; forced move towards a circular economy; GDP per capita measure; Global Compact for Migration; global productivity losses due to heat; immigrant-founded companies; and influx of low-skilled migrant workers; migration

…

, Finnish town of sanitation Saudi Arabia Saunders, Doug Sawiris, Naguib Scandinavia scientific discovery Scotland sea grasses Seasteading movement Seven Dials, London sex industry Shanghai sharing/circular economy Shenzhen Shyaam a-Mbul Siberia silicates Silicon Valley Silk Road Singapore sinkholes Skellefteå, Sweden slavery Slovenia slum dwellers; conditions at Kutupalong refugee camp; in Lagos

Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

by Michael Jacobs and Mariana Mazzucato  · 31 Jul 2016  · 370pp  · 102,823 words

The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything

by Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey  · 27 Feb 2018  · 348pp  · 97,277 words

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

by Kate Raworth  · 22 Mar 2017  · 403pp  · 111,119 words

Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World

by Jason Hickel  · 12 Aug 2020  · 286pp  · 87,168 words

Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism

by John Elkington  · 6 Apr 2020  · 384pp  · 93,754 words

Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires

by Douglas Rushkoff  · 7 Sep 2022  · 205pp  · 61,903 words

The Day the World Stops Shopping

by J. B. MacKinnon  · 14 May 2021  · 368pp  · 109,432 words

Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization

by Parag Khanna  · 18 Apr 2016  · 497pp  · 144,283 words

Peers Inc: How People and Platforms Are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism

by Robin Chase  · 14 May 2015  · 330pp  · 91,805 words

Investing to Save the Planet: How Your Money Can Make a Difference

by Alice Ross  · 19 Nov 2020  · 197pp  · 53,831 words

The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns, and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future in the Rare Metal Age

by David S. Abraham  · 27 Oct 2015  · 386pp  · 91,913 words

The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives

by Ernest Scheyder  · 30 Jan 2024  · 355pp  · 133,726 words

Exponential Organizations: Why New Organizations Are Ten Times Better, Faster, and Cheaper Than Yours (And What to Do About It)

by Salim Ismail and Yuri van Geest  · 17 Oct 2014  · 292pp  · 85,151 words

The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism

by Jeremy Rifkin  · 31 Mar 2014  · 565pp  · 151,129 words

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire

by Rebecca Henderson  · 27 Apr 2020  · 330pp  · 99,044 words

The Rare Metals War

by Guillaume Pitron  · 15 Feb 2020  · 249pp  · 66,492 words

The Green New Deal: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth

by Jeremy Rifkin  · 9 Sep 2019  · 327pp  · 84,627 words

A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity and a Shared Earth

by Chris Smaje  · 14 Aug 2020  · 375pp  · 105,586 words

What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures

by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson  · 17 Sep 2024  · 588pp  · 160,825 words

Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change

by Ronald Cohen  · 1 Jul 2020  · 276pp  · 59,165 words

The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters

by Diane Coyle  · 15 Apr 2025  · 321pp  · 112,477 words

Ghost Road: Beyond the Driverless Car

by Anthony M. Townsend  · 15 Jun 2020  · 362pp  · 97,288 words

Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order

by Colin Kahl and Thomas Wright  · 23 Aug 2021  · 652pp  · 172,428 words

Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life

by Adam Greenfield  · 29 May 2017  · 410pp  · 119,823 words

Team Human

by Douglas Rushkoff  · 22 Jan 2019  · 196pp  · 54,339 words

The Ages of Globalization

by Jeffrey D. Sachs  · 2 Jun 2020

The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations

by Daniel Yergin  · 14 Sep 2020

Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green

by Henry Sanderson  · 12 Sep 2022  · 292pp  · 87,720 words

What We Need to Do Now: A Green Deal to Ensure a Habitable Earth

by Chris Goodall  · 30 Jan 2020  · 154pp  · 48,340 words

The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions

by Greta Thunberg  · 14 Feb 2023  · 651pp  · 162,060 words

How to Spend a Trillion Dollars

by Rowan Hooper  · 15 Jan 2020  · 285pp  · 86,858 words

Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

by Ed Conway  · 15 Jun 2023  · 515pp  · 152,128 words

The Dark Cloud: How the Digital World Is Costing the Earth

by Guillaume Pitron  · 14 Jun 2023  · 271pp  · 79,355 words

Sustainable Minimalism: Embrace Zero Waste, Build Sustainability Habits That Last, and Become a Minimalist Without Sacrificing the Planet (Green Housecleaning, Zero Waste Living)

by Stephanie Marie Seferian  · 19 Jan 2021

The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths

by Mariana Mazzucato  · 1 Jan 2011  · 382pp  · 92,138 words

Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet

by Trebor Scholz and Nathan Schneider  · 14 Aug 2017  · 237pp  · 67,154 words

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis

by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac  · 25 Feb 2020  · 197pp  · 49,296 words

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall

by Zeke Faux  · 11 Sep 2023  · 385pp  · 106,848 words

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma

by Mustafa Suleyman  · 4 Sep 2023  · 444pp  · 117,770 words

Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future

by Alan Weisman  · 21 Apr 2025  · 599pp  · 149,014 words

We Are as Gods: A Survival Guide for the Age of Abundance

by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler  · 13 Apr 2026  · 225pp  · 76,418 words

Adventures in the Anthropocene: A Journey to the Heart of the Planet We Made

by Gaia Vince  · 19 Oct 2014  · 505pp  · 147,916 words

Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything―Even Things That Seem Impossible Today

by Jane McGonigal  · 22 Mar 2022  · 420pp  · 135,569 words

Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs

by Juli Berwald  · 4 Apr 2022  · 495pp  · 114,451 words

This Is Not a Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook

by Extinction Rebellion  · 12 Jun 2019  · 138pp  · 40,525 words

Not the End of the World

by Hannah Ritchie  · 9 Jan 2024  · 335pp  · 101,992 words

Badvertising

by Andrew Simms  · 314pp  · 81,529 words

Framers: Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil

by Kenneth Cukier, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Francis de Véricourt  · 10 May 2021  · 291pp  · 80,068 words

Paper: A World History

by Mark Kurlansky  · 3 Apr 2016  · 485pp  · 126,597 words

Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom)

by Adam Fisher  · 9 Jul 2018  · 611pp  · 188,732 words

Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (In a Big Way)

by Roma Agrawal  · 2 Mar 2023  · 290pp  · 80,461 words

Simply Living Well: A Guide to Creating a Natural, Low-Waste Home

by Julia Watkins  · 6 Apr 2020

On the Future: Prospects for Humanity

by Martin J. Rees  · 14 Oct 2018  · 193pp  · 51,445 words

A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying for Life

by Tara Button  · 8 Feb 2018  · 315pp  · 81,433 words

Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI

by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson  · 15 Jan 2018  · 523pp  · 61,179 words

The Deepest Map

by Laura Trethewey  · 15 May 2023

The Rough Guide to Cyprus

by Rough Guides  · 2 Feb 2025

Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age

by Vauhini Vara  · 8 Apr 2025  · 301pp  · 105,209 words

The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History

by Roland Ennos  · 18 Feb 2021

Demystifying Smart Cities

by Anders Lisdorf

Lonely Planet Paris

by Lonely Planet  · 377pp  · 100,759 words

Texture: 20 Timeless Garments Exploring Knit, Yarn & Stitch

by Erika Knight  · 21 Jan 2021  · 236pp  · 50,215 words