Kuala Lampur, May 23 -- The linear economy has powered an unprecedented expansion in GDP. But as resource scarcity and climate collapse begin to bite, the very metric we use to measure prosperity is now being weaponised against the solution. If a circular economy aims to use fewer virgin resources, produce less waste, and make products last longer, won't it inevitably shrink the throughput that GDP measures? If we stop mining, stop discarding, and stop replacing perfectly functional goods, where will the growth come from?

A well-designed circular economy does not reduce GDP growth; it fundamentally changes the composition of GDP, decoupling value creation from volume expansion. To assume that circularity kills growth is to confuse activi...