Going around in circles? Conceptual recycling, patching and policy layering in the EU circular economy package

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) concept is informing the governance of resource use and waste management on a global scale, leading to widespread policy instrument innovation. However, the recent appearance of CE 'policy portfolios' raises questions about whether such policies are genuinely path-breaking or are merely adjustments to existing arrangements. Tracing the emergence of the European Union's Circular Economy Package shows that, while some measures are genuinely novel, many others are 'patched' onto pre-existing instruments and that the overall portfolio exhibits a high degree of institutional 'layering'. Given the evidence of relative ineffectiveness of past incremental environmental interventions, there is a mismatch between such approaches and the scale, pace, and scope of transformation implied by contemporary articulations of the circular economy concept. Creating the policy conditions for sustainable production and consumption may require more radical policy formulations than CE proponents acknowledge.

The circular economy of waste: recovery, incineration and urban reuse

“…The European 'landfill directive' (1999/31/EC) in particular signalled a turning point in the evolution of the waste market in Europe. It set a common waste hierarchy that incentivized a recovery of materials and set the grounds for circular economy programmes (Fitch-Roy, Benson, and Monciardini 2019). From the late 90s, the financial composition and the position and the geography of the waste industry has been progressively changing toward three directions: a) the codependency of public utilities and private waste services; b) the institutional upscaling toward national and European regulatory frameworks, which coincide with the emergence of an economy of scale in the waste sector; c) the sub-urbanization of waste infrastructures.…”

“…They propose an approach geared toward maximizing resource productivity at all stages of production and consumption (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). In practice, the circular economy is an umbrella term for a large variety of infrastructural, social and economic policies seeking to minimize waste (Blomsma and Brennan 2017;Fitch-Roy, Benson, and Monciardini 2019). It functions as a 'moral discourse' through which diverse actors justify very different resource efficiency strategies Friant, Vermeulen, and Salomone 2020).…”

Policies for the Circular Economy: The Case of Paper Industry

“…In other words, a greater responsibility to the subjects located at both ends of the supply chain, namely upstream of production processes. With a specific reference to the planning and ecological design, the selection of materials and commercial channels and, when devising an effective PLM management process, the effective reuse or recycling of EOL products (Fitch-Roy et al, 2020;Ghisellini et al, 2016).…”

Circular Economy and Economic Development in the European Union: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis

“…Approaches which include the several institutions, the several levels of governance, and the complex policy framework, may bring to light relevant insights for policy design in an efficient evolution for a circular economy [32]. In this context, the European Union needs to rethink its policy framework for an effective decarbonisation [33], claiming, in some circumstances, for more robust frameworks [34]. This is also true for external cooperation, namely with developing countries [35].…”