CHALLENGES OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN CROATIA

Sa？etak “Take-make-consume-dispose” approach or a linear model of economy is nowadays replaced with circular economy or “take-make-consume-take-make…” approach. Instead of throwing away circular economy recycles and reuses. The main idea is, as the nature returns everything back to the cycle, the economy also needs to have a closed loop in order to be sustainable. Two reasons lie behind this claim. First, the world population is increasing at growing rates and the scarce resources are to be exhausted. Second, linear economy leads towards environmental degradation that contributes to the climate change. Circular economy systematically changes the way the economy functions. The governments support use of renewable energy resources and waste management as well as discovery of new technologies. The goal of this paper is to assess the Croatian economy in the light of circular economy. Unlike the rest of the European Union which is considered the greenest region of the world, Croatia is lagging behind. The shift towards circular economy is yet to begin and this paper is considering the most important steps Croatia will have to make to accelerate the transition process