Circular Economy - A challenge and an opportunity for Process Systems Engineering

Rising populations put huge stresses on natural resources. Extraction and depletion of raw materials and waste created throughout the supply chain of products have enormous environmental and socioeconomic impacts. One way to reduce these impacts is through the move towards the circular economy (CE). CE aims to solve resource, waste, and emission challenges confronting society by creating a production-to-consumption total supply chain that is restorative, regenerative, and environmentally benign. This article highlights research challenges and identifies process systems engineering (PSE) research opportunities to assist in the understanding, analysis and optimization of CE supply chains. A motivating example on the supply chain of coffee is introduced to illustrate the challenges of the transition towards a CE and to propose PSE research opportunities.