The “Earth Overshoot Day“ serves as an annual reminder thathumanity has already used up its entire resources budget that was meant to be for the current year. This was 22 August in the year 2020.
The 31 December 2020 is however the target and zero mark for a secured future. A continual growth in consumer demand results in an increasing consumption of resources. The results of this are complex and irreversible environmental damage that has been visible for a long time on a global scale.
In order to reduce the size of the ecological human footprint, it is important that material cycles are closed and that materials can be reintroduced to the production of new products at the end of their long life cycle.