Is A Circular Economy Really Possible?

Though the idea of a circular economy, an economy that generates a loop of regeneration and reuse of items, seems like an ideal economy, I don’t know how possible it is right now for us (even though I wish it was). One striking part of this idea is that we will eliminate majority of waste and switch our current linear economic model to a more circular one, so that we reuse and modify items so that they do not need to be wasted as they are now. But, a large issue I see with this is that we are unable to apply this with current cycles we attempt now. Recycling, for example, is supposed to be more of a circular (ish) cycle, yet we are unable to actually recycle many things with this system.  So much of our current “recyclables” are redirected to waste because they are unable to be recycled, even though they are considered “recyclable” items. If we were to consider the vast amount and types of items that would also have to be put into a similar system for a true circular economy, then we would need to consider how we would be able to actually do the process of reusing them– or, creating new things that would be able to fall under this category. I think with a significant amount of infrastructure and material changes, this may be possible, but I do not think it will be quick or easy. We already struggle so much with plastics regarding reuse and waste– along with many of the other issues that we don’t talk about often, like microplastic contamination and harmful chemicals used in creation. Many people already are attempting to find an alternative for these plastics that is as accessible and affordable as plastics, which we are yet to see significant use of these replacements.  Though a solution like circular economy seems appealing and seems like a simple fix, we would need to restructure significant parts of our society, our consumption, and more, and this is not something I see likely for many people (and corporations). Many people are used to our current ways of waste, which are completely unsustainable in our world as it is now. Ideas like circular economies seem like a good idea to help solve this problem, but it would not be as immediate of a solution that we need for our waste issue. Some aspects of a circular economy could and definitely should be incorporated into our society to reduce these wastes and would be very beneficial, but a more immediate solution needs to be incorporated into our world soon. I like the idea of a circular economy, but it is more important to target aspects of waste that can be controlled right now rather than working on a long project to restructure our system, because we need very immediate change. Circular economies may be something great for the future or an idea to help redirect our current ways of consumption, but overall as a system seems a bit unrealistic right now.