Imagine an economy in which today's goods become tomorrow's resources and nothing is discarded.

Ellen MacArthur, the founder of her eponymous foundation, which works to accelerate the transition to a regenerative economy, writes that we need to stop living a "take, make, dispose" lifestyle. We need to think about a circular economy where waste and pollution are prevented, products are reused and natural systems such as agricultural land are regenerated.

This is the seventh essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank.