Throughout its evolution, our industrial economy has never moved beyond one fundamental characteristic: A linear model of resource consumption that follows a take-make-dispose pattern. Companies extract materials, apply energy and labor to manufacture a product and sell it to a consumer—who then discard it when it no longer serves its purpose. A circular economy approach is an alternative to this model. It aims to keep products and materials in the value chain for a longer period and to recover raw materials after the lifetime of the products for their next use.