Prioritizing technology development pathways for sustainable resource recovery
Societies have prospered under a linear “take-make-use-dispose” paradigm, extracting natural resources to make products, using them, and ultimately discarding them or their residues. This model has driven economic growth but… at the cost of resource depletion, pervasive pollution, biodiversity loss, and an escalating climate crisis. In response, industries and governments are seeking technologies that can meet societal needs while advancing broader sustainability goals – resource circularity, carbon neutrality, and equity among them. This pursuit has become a catalyst for research and development to support a transition toward a circular bioeconomy, but a critical challenge has been the vast landscape of possible technology development pathways and the lack of transparent, consistent frameworks to target research and investment.
