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The components are shown as one integrated system, not only as separate services.
What it is, why it matters, how it applies on a farm, and what studies and successful models say.
The circular economy replaces the linear "take - make - dispose" path with a cycle that keeps materials and products in use for longer, designs waste out from the start, and returns to nature what was taken from it. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation summarises it in three principles: design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems.
The literature distinguishes a biological cycle, where nutrients return to soil through composting and anaerobic digestion, from a technical cycle, where products and components circulate through repair, reuse, refurbishment and remanufacture. Animal farming sits in the biological cycle: manure and organic residues are resources for energy and fertiliser, not waste.
The Circularity Gap Report 2024 (Circle Economy) finds that the share of secondary materials in the global economy fell from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023, so about 93% of materials consumed worldwide do not come from recycling. That means growing pressure on resources, water and soil, and a large opportunity for those who close their loops early: lower input costs, less supply dependence and lower environmental impact.
The essay on "spaceship Earth" describes moving from an open "cowboy economy" to a closed economy on a planet of limited resources.
Exchanges of water, energy and residues between industrial facilities began, becoming the best-known industrial-symbiosis model.
The first systematic conception of the circular economy in the context of high oil prices and unemployment, with the first diagram of the loop economy.
Their formulation of the economics of natural resources and the environment linked the economy to the materials cycle (some editions are dated 1990).
The "butterfly diagram" spread and European circular-economy action plans made it public policy.
Producing feed near the herd, digesting manure into biogas and fertiliser, reusing treated water and running the system on solar power.
Each component outputs feed another: solar power to water, water to feed and greenhouses, shelter and abattoir waste to bio-recycling.
Sharing surplus with neighbouring farms, selling fertiliser and cooperating with investors and suppliers in energy and technology.
An industrial symbiosis where neighbouring facilities exchange steam, water and residues. Published sources cite annual economic returns and large emission cuts (about USD 28 million and 600,000 t CO2 a year in a research appendix, not verified against a primary source). Biogas is made from biotech residues and fertiliser is recovered from the digested biomass.
Source ↗Cows and pigs produce about 20% more phosphate than Dutch agriculture can use, so Wageningen researchers are extracting phosphate from manure and keeping organic matter and nitrogen in the region. A useful lesson: closing the nutrient loop needs planning from the design stage.
Source ↗A hub of a cooperative food-production system based on energy and nutrient self-sufficiency.
Source ↗Concept and three principles: Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Dates come from published reviews and publication years may differ between editions. No figures for MARAFID are included before approval.
Using photovoltaic energy to support the operation of the project facilities, with the system’s capacity and equipment shown per approved data.
Capacity and indicators will be published once approved.
Details →An introduction to the desalination station and its role in supporting the farm’s needs and agricultural production.
Capacity and indicators will be published once approved.
Details →Turning animal-production waste into treated material that can be used in agricultural activities, per the station’s outputs.
Capacity and indicators will be published once approved.
Details →