--- title: The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy description: A truly circular economy could rewire the global system. canonical: https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339216/circular-economy-plastics-minerals-climate-solutions/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-01-15T12:01:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-30T10:57:32.252Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy og:description: A truly circular economy could rewire the global system. og:url: https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339216/circular-economy-plastics-minerals-climate-solutions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea79afaea737199/6998ccd983ec37d004c7b41f/260105DRAIN_v1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy twitter:description: A truly circular economy could rewire the global system. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea79afaea737199/6998ccd983ec37d004c7b41f/260105DRAIN_v1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jan 15, 2026 # The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy by [Dame Ellen MacArthur](https://time.com/author/dame-ellen-macarthur/) and [Jonquil Hackenberg](https://time.com/author/jonquil-hackenberg/)  Illustration by Chris Gash for TIME Our 19th century economic model is running on borrowed time. Finite resources are used to make things that we soon discard. Even if some are recycled, it’s a wasteful, polluting [system](https://time.com/7339630/new-year-climate-resolutions-2026/) that’s too fragile for today’s world. Resale sites and companies building circular business models into their operations are making strides. And there are steps toward a global plastics treaty to address how plastic is made and used, not just how it’s recycled. The circular economy is a strategic counterattack against cascading [global threats](https://time.com/7343169/top-10-global-risks-2026/). Some 55% of large businesses have circular-economy commitments or strategies, and more than 75 countries are actively developing circular-economy road maps. Yet global challenges are still out-pacing the solutions, and we face the question of how to achieve [economic change](https://time.com/7289935/growing-economy-bottom-up/) to address the issue. We believe it’s with [collaborative action](https://time.com/7343801/human-connection-ai-era/) and collective advocacy. Change starts in key industries, ripe for disruption, where circular solutions can have the biggest impact. That means creating the conditions to scale up at local levels, including developing infrastructure and redesigning fiscal policies to let circular business models compete with traditional ones, then applying the lessons learned in other strategic local contexts. Within key industries, we propose a three-pronged approach for businesses and NGOs: First, set a joint direction. Build alignment all along the value chain to identify and target barriers together. Second, collaborate to launch joint ventures, share infrastructure, or co-develop new materials, products, and services, reducing risk and cutting costs. Lastly, change policy. Collectively advocate for the regulations and incentives that force widespread action, transforming markets along the way. It’s happening in plastics. Over the past decade or so, the world has grasped the scale of the [plastic pollution](https://time.com/7337065/recycling-plastic-crisis-microplastics-body/) crisis. We can’t simply recycle our way out of it. The entire plastics system needed to change. In 2018, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the U.N. Environment Programme launched the [Global Commitment](https://www.unep.org/new-plastics-economy-global-commitment), which unified businesses, governments, NGOs, and investors toward an ambitious vision of system transformation. The framework pioneered a new era of transparency and demonstrated [the power of collective advocacy](https://time.com/7344810/trump-withdraw-unfccc-climate-impact/). In 2021, we spearheaded an effort with the backing of around 100 leading businesses, which helped to accelerate the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy development around the world. These schemes hold producers responsible for mitigating the negative impacts of their products and packaging. [Minerals](https://time.com/7202047/cold-war-history-critical-minerals/) could be next. The clean-energy transition and [digitalization](https://time.com/4587228/joe-kaeser-climate-change-energy/) of the global economy is boosting demand for minerals like [lithium](https://time.com/6182044/electric-vehicle-battery-lithium-shortage/), cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earth elements. Supply is tightening amid trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainty. Electric--vehicle (EV) batteries provide just one example of how disruption creates an opportunity to build new markets. The first generation of EV batteries are reaching the end of their usefulness for driving. They still have substantial—and valuable—capacity for stationary energy storage, from supporting building energy systems to balancing electricity grids. The volume of retiring batteries is now growing significant enough to support commercial second--life markets, rather than just pilot projects. The policy and investment choices made now will shape global material flows for decades. Governments are realizing that smarter product and service design, innovative business models, and large-scale recycling are key to secure, resilient supply chains. It isn’t idealism; it’s strategy. Without bold action, investment in innovation and infrastructure, and policies that create the incentives needed for new business models to truly compete with old ones, we risk locking in more waste, emissions, and economic inefficiencies. Now is not the time to retreat. It’s time to refocus and lean into opportunities for disruption. To overcome systemic barriers like insufficient infrastructure or a fragmented government--policy landscape, we need business and government leaders, along with NGOs, to form a unified offensive, to collaborate like never before toward shared solutions. The way forward is together. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339216/circular-economy-plastics-minerals-climate-solutions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339216/circular-economy-plastics-minerals-climate-solutions/"},"headline":"The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy","datePublished":"2026-01-15T12:01:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-30T10:57:32.252Z","description":"A truly circular economy could rewire the global system.","url":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339216/circular-economy-plastics-minerals-climate-solutions/","keywords":["Davos 2026","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea79afaea737199/6998ccd983ec37d004c7b41f/260105DRAIN_v1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dame Ellen MacArthur","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dame-ellen-macarthur/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Jonquil Hackenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jonquil-hackenberg/"}],"creator":"Dame Ellen MacArthur","articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea79afaea737199/6998ccd983ec37d004c7b41f/260105DRAIN_v1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/davos-2026/","name":"Davos 2026"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/davos-2026/7339216/circular-economy-plastics-minerals-climate-solutions/","name":"The Planet Needs Us to Disrupt the Economy"}}]}] ```