The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. 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.