The circular economy and an endless recycling of materials is an absurd proposal, and not only from a technical perspective; the very idea of a “sustainable” high tech society is in a direct conflict with the laws of physics. After reviewing the technical reasons behind
Biology shows existing entropy gradient allows for indefinitely (for billions of years) sustainable systems. However our current technology and especially its scale degrades the entropy of its environment (depletes fossil energy and ore concentrates which need geological time spans to recover). We need a traversable path to a technology capable of sustainability and that path might well not exist. Edo era Japan technology might be borderline sustainable at a low population density but is a progress trap.
deleted by creator
The relevant constraint is the carrying capacity of the ecosystem beyond the short run, i.e. without fossil fuels, depleted resource base and the ecosystem services due the overshoot, at some level of technology sustainable under the circumstances. We’re over an order of magnitude beyond these limits, by most estimates.