Adoption of Circular Economy concepts and practices by Portuguese Citizens and Companies

Abstract

The concept of Circular Economy is an emerging topic and the European Union has established a European Circular Economy Strategy in 2015. Although this concept originates from Europe, there is also an increased attention to the Circular Economy in China and the country has implemented regulatory controls in that regard. The scientific interest on this issue has been increasing and a great deal of research articles has been published in the soundest scientific journals recently. The concept of Circular Economy aims to address the need to pursue economic growth, while protecting the environment (including existing resource limitations and pollution prevention), and paying attention to societal and people needs and expectations. The adoption of Circular Economy can generate considerable tangible and intangible benefits such as new opportunities for co-operation, access to markets and innovation of products and services and, simultaneously, improving the environmental performance and mitigating the risks of resource scarcity. This creates value for the companies and their stakeholders and contributes to enduring success. To assess if the Portuguese citizens and companies support and adopt a “Circular Economy behavior”, an online survey was carried out amongst ISEP - P. Porto population, yielding more than 200 valid responses (65% of the total responses were provided by students). Based on the survey outputs (assessment supported in a 5 point Likert type scale), the following conclusions can be drawn: Most respondents agree that it is beneficial both for the environment and the economy the adoption of production systems based on used products and parts reuse and recycling; There is also agreement that the selective collection of waste should be the base to develop new products and there is significant support for a “zero waste economy” in which all used products or materials are reused or recycled. However, the respondents consider that the Portuguese citizens do not always segregate and deposit their waste in the appropriate waste containers and the same applies to companies that do not segregate and manage their waste adopting a systematically environmentally responsible approach. Moreover, they consider that the Portuguese legislation only mildly supports the adoption, both from citizens and companies, of environmental friendly practices. These conclusions reinforce the need to strengthen Circular Economy concepts and approaches within the Portuguese government, citizens, and companies.

Drivers and barriers to circular economy implementation

“…A continued pressure from stakeholders can drive enterprises to implement CE initiatives. The literature shows that throughout the last decade, increased public opinion continues to demand that enterprises adopt more responsible ways of production and consumption (Fonseca and Domingues, 2018). The shared opinion of 3 percent survey respondents stressed on the changing attitude of automobile customers and consumers as well as society in general, increasing interest in circular initiatives.…”

Assessment of Circular Economy within Portuguese Organizations

“…Portugal, being a member state of the EU, has an action plan to promote CE [11,15] and research studies report that Portuguese consumers claim to be supportive of CE [16]. However, there is a lack of research concerning the motivations, the knowledge, the adoption and the suggestions to promote CE within Portuguese companies.…”

“…The urge for a transition towards CE has been pushed by a significant number of researchers, business practitioners, politicians and international organizations [3,20]. However, to supersede the linear "source, use and waste" economy by a CE model, an integrated approach that focuses on a long-term system change or transition is required [16]. Several factors have been identified as enablers (or barriers) for the successful implementation of CE.…”

Current and Future Professional Insights on Cooperation towards Circular Economy Adoption

“…Russia [26] Surveyed attitudes and willingness of the local government to adopting CE principles. Portugal De Feo and Williams [17] measured the knowledge (i.e., their awareness) of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and then measured its relationship to their opinion (behaviour/attitudes) towards more sustainable MSW treatments.…”

“…One article published in conference proceedings concerned a study that involved cohorts of both students and companies. Fonseca and Domingues [26] found that there was high positivity of participants towards 'businesses based on product-service systems to reuse and recycle parts'. They concluded that more work is needed in designing students' syllabuses to reinforce this perspective, not least because students will become change agents in their future work-moving us towards (or away from) circularity.…”