Page 20 - Environmental_Circular Economy
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3.2 Cascading in the circular economy process
Cascading and circular economy are intrinsically related as both pursue the same objective of optimisation
and increased use of resource materials for higher efficiency in the production processes.
Cascading is a fundamental component of the circular economy, as it contributes to increased resource
efficiency in the whole system. Cascading enable to reuse, recycle and rethink products collected after
a first use to extract again raw materials from these product and manufacture a new product. This process
can take place one or several time (for a single-stage or multi-stage cascading). Most of the bio-based
products can potentially be part of this process, allowing alternative to products end of life, thanks to
recollection and new use, and finally, creation of energy.
The following figure, extracted from the Report called “Concept of bio-based and circular economy” of the
Road to bio project, shows the place that cascading has in the circular economy process:
