RESOURCE RECYCLING AS A NEW SOURCE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The article examines the impact of resource recycling on economic growth from the standpoint of the concept of decoupling. It was found that the European studies existing in this area illustrate the presence of a positive effect of the circular material use in production processes, and the most optimistic estimates indicate an additional 7% potential growth of real GDP until 2030. At the same time, the cluster analysis carried out by the author using the Statistica software made it possible to establish that the current indicators, on the contrary, do not show a positive relationship. It is argued that such results cannot be considered as a substantiation of the arguments of opponents of the processing of production and consumption waste, but are more a reflection of the low profitability of using recycled materials in the production. The increase in raw material prices observed in 2020-2021 and their possible stabilization at current levels are interpreted as factors in the growth of the profitability of circular material use. The author notes the importance of ESG investment development for increasing the degree of involvement of recycled materials in the production process and ensuring sustainable economic development.