How labour-intensive is the circular economy? A policy-orientated structural analysis of the repair, reuse and recycling activities in the European Union

Llorente-González, Leandro J.; Deza, Xavier Vence

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105033

Cited by 56 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…By changing the linear economy into a circular economy, the circular economy actually changes many other basic elements in our economic system as well [7,27,28]. For example, the changed urban metabolism derived from the projection of circular economy policies will result in the change of supply chain in the business model, which, inevitably, will drive some pros and cons to various economic sectors [29][30][31][32]. One of the most pressing issues presenting the negative impact of the circular economy on the urban waste sector is the immense exploitation of the majority of the members who actually are "employees" of this sector [11,33], resulting in a social exclusion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Match Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability: Re-investigating Circular Economy Under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

2021

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The concept of circular economy (CE) offers an innovative and systematical approach to address a number of urban sustainability issues, via exploring symbiotic ways to design circular urban systems and optimizing the materials and energy metabolism of cities, so as to mitigate environmental footprints. Urban sustainability is highlighted as a critical issue in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by United Nations; hence, in nature, circular economy could offer a number of solutions towards SDGs in urban scope. As trade-offs, circular economy also potentially causes negative impacts to business-asusual scenario, which is easily to be ignored. To highlight this scientific issue, this paper identified and matched the role of circular economy in realizing 17 SDGs in urban scope. How circular economy strategy could potentially affect the SDGs, whether positive or negative, were comprehensively evaluated. We expect such findings could support an equilibrium decision-making on circular economy promotion in cities, rather than an optimum solution to a single target under the triple bottom line of sustainability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Match Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability: Re-investigating Circular Economy Under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

2021

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“…In addition, product care can lead to environmental benefits by extending products' lifetimes. Regular maintenance and a careful handling of products can postpone or reduce the need for repair and replacement [9,[65][66][67]. Only in the case of a major technical breakthrough that leads to large improvements of energy efficiency in products, such as the LED technology for lights, existing products should be replaced from an environmental perspective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design for Product Care—Development of Design Strategies and a Toolkit for Sustainable Consumer Behaviour

Ackermann

Tuimaka²,

Pohlmeyer³

et al. 2021

J Sustain Res

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Background: Taking care of products is a relevant approach to prolong products' lifetimes and retain their desired level of performance, and is thus an important aspect of sustainable consumer behaviour. Although consumers have a general motivation to take care of their products, previous research has shown that they struggle to repair, maintain or treat their products carefully in daily life. Design has the potential to increase consumers' product care activities, but designers need more knowledge and distinct strategies to evoke this product care behaviour with consumers.Methods: By the means of a multi-method approach-individual and group brainstorming sessions as well as an analysis of existing solutionswe created a large number of ideas on how to stimulate product care among consumers.Results: We were able to summarize these ideas in a clustering session into eight strategies and 24 sub-strategies that can foster product care through design. These eight strategies are: social connections, informing, enabling, appropriation, control, awareness, antecedents & consequences, and reflecting. The integration of the consumer perspective into strategies for product care extends currently known design strategies for repair and maintenance. To support designers in the implementation of these strategies, we developed a toolkit that can be used in the product development process of different product categories.Conclusions: This paper identifies product care strategies that have a distinct focus on the consumers' perspective of sustainable behaviour and that can be stimulated through design. These rather psychologicallydriven strategies thereby complement existing technology-and productoriented design strategies. Furthermore, to facilitate implementation, a design toolkit has been developed that points to key requirements in practice.

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“…These various definitions share common concerns related to increased resource efficiency, waste management and decoupling resource extraction from economic outputs. However, debates remain on the scope, processes, actors and motivations to shift to the circular economy (McCarthy, Dellink and Bibas, 2018 [88] ; Laubinger, Lanzi and Chateau, 2020 [26] ). For example, one debate concerns whether or not to include energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in the scope of the circular economy.…”

Section: What Is the Circular Economy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The circular economy breaks with the "Take-Make-Use-Dispose" linear economy and proposes a model in which products and materials are designed to minimise waste and pollution, remain in use, and regenerate natural systems (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013 [25] ). 3 The circular economy seeks "to keep products, components and materials in the economy for as long as possible, trying to eliminate waste and virgin resource inputs" (Laubinger, Lanzi and Chateau, 2020 [26] ). Value retention being central, circular approaches aim to "maintain the value of products, materials and resources for as long as possible by returning them into the product cycle at the end of their use, while minimising the generation of waste" (European Commission, 2020 [27] ).…”

Section: What Is the Circular Economy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…primary materials, non-metallic materials, construction) (Chateau and Mavroeidi, 2020 [10] ). Another OECD report, that reviews 47 scenarios from 15 economic modelling studies, concludes that employment gains range between 0 and 2%, with one study predicting employment gains up to 7% and only three scenarios suggesting a slightly negative employment outcome (Laubinger, Lanzi and Chateau, 2020 [26] ).…”

Section: Box 2 Green Jobs and Green Futures: The Promising Potential ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Policy brief on making the most of the social economy’s contribution to the circular economy

2022

OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Working Papers

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The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the organisation or of the governments of its member countries or those of the European Union. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Note by Turkey:The information in this document with reference to 'Cyprus' relates to the southern part of the island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the island. Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Turkey shall preserve its position concerning the 'Cyprus issue'.

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How labour-intensive is the circular economy? A policy-orientated structural analysis of the repair, reuse and recycling activities in the European Union

Cited by 56 publications

References 24 publications

Match Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability: Re-investigating Circular Economy Under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Match Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability: Re-investigating Circular Economy Under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Design for Product Care—Development of Design Strategies and a Toolkit for Sustainable Consumer Behaviour

Policy brief on making the most of the social economy’s contribution to the circular economy

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