[Originally written for The Circular Collective in September 2021] In the pandemic’s aftermath, the theme of all recovery plans has been emerging stronger and more resilient. Moving towards economic recovery while meeting environmental and social goals requires unprecedented action from governments across the world. This is a pivotal moment for governments to step up and accelerate the transition to a circular economy – a systemic shift that will generate economic opportunities, and job growth while focusing simultaneously on environmental sustainability and social justice. Though the concept has been widely popularized in Western economies, the circular economy is uniquely relevant for developing and emerging economies such as India. Many of these developing economies are heavily dependent on manufacturing and/or raw material extraction industries – which offer even more scope to optimise material flows and go circular (as compared to developed service-oriented economies). Gove...