The circularity divide: What is it? And how do we avoid it?

Supply chain volatility and the economic pressures brought about by Covid-19 has led European nations, the United States and China to adopt circularity as a domestic economic strategy. Their objectives are strengthening supply chains and resource security while boosting trade competitiveness. In this Perspective, we argue that if nations continue down the road of a unilateral and fragmented approach to the circular economy, not only will they fail to address domestic environmental problems, they will also create a phenomenon we term the ‘circularity divide’, thereby exacerbating global inequities.