Measuring Progress towards a Circular Economy: A Monitoring Framework for Economy‐wide Material Loop Closing in the EU28

Mayer, Andreas; Haas, Willi; Wiedenhofer, Dominik; Krausmann, Fridolin; Nuss, Philip; Blengini, Gian Andrea

doi:10.1111/jiec.12809

Cited by 238 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(158 reference statements)

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“…Monitoring metrics to assess the progress toward CE are being debated (Elia, Gnoni, & Tornese, ; Mayer et al., ; Pauliuk, ) and recent attempts to develop general metrics differ in aim and scope, resulting in diverse coverage and focus (Elia et al., ; Iacovidou et al., ; Linder, Sarasini, & van Loon, ; Pauliuk, ; Tecchio, McAlister, Mathieux, & Ardente, ). Given the wide range of perspectives, formats, and scales, Saidani, Yannou, Leroy, Cluzel, and Kendall () suggest a taxonomy of different CE indicators.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mayer et al. () suggest a set of indicators for the EU based on material flow analysis with the premise that CE “should contribute to the reduction of environmental pressures instigated by resource use” (p. 2).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, respectively. At an EW level,Moriguchi (2007) suggests indicators for a "sound material-cycle society" andTakiguchi and Takemoto (2008) present indicators for the Japanese 3R Policies Mayer et al (2018). suggest a set of indicators for the EU based on material flow analysis with the premise that CE "should contribute to the reduction of environmental pressures instigated by resource use" (p. 2).…”

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confidence: 99%

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How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy: An assessment of indicators

Helander

Petit‐Boix

Leipold

et al. 2019

J of Industrial Ecology

100

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Understanding how a circular economy (CE) can reduce environmental pressures from economic activities is crucial for policy and practice. Science provides a range of indicators to monitor and assess CE activities. However, common CE activities, such as recycling and eco‐design, are contested in terms of their contribution to environmental sustainability. This article assesses whether and to what extent current approaches to assess CE activities sufficiently capture environmental pressures to monitor progress toward environmental sustainability. Based on a material flow perspective, we show that most indicators do not capture environmental pressures related to the CE activities they address. Many focus on a single CE activity or process, which does not necessarily contribute to increased environmental sustainability overall. Based on these results, we suggest complementing CE management indicators with indicators capturing basic environmental pressures related to the respective CE activity. Given the conceptual linkage between CE activities, resource extraction, and waste flows, we suggest that a resource‐based footprint approach accounting for major environmental inputs and outputs is necessary—while not sufficient—to assess the environmental sustainability of CE activities. As footprint approaches can be used across scales, they could aid the challenging process of developing indicators for monitoring progress toward an environmentally sustainable CE at the European, national, and company levels.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy: An assessment of indicators

Helander

Petit‐Boix

Leipold

et al. 2019

J of Industrial Ecology

100

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show abstract

“…The current debate highlights the circular economy (CE) addressed in our conceptual framework, which proposes to derive strategies for a shift from a linear to a circular industrial structure [14,15,23]. The circular economy is understood in this paper as the extension of value and utility of product, therefore production and consumption wastes are used as secondary resources, providing solutions and co-benefits to a range of economic and environmental issues [4,23]. There are four sources of value creation for the circular economy identified in the literature: 1.…”

Section: Industrial Symbiosismentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics, a Strategy to Accomplish Complex Analysis: The Dunkirk Case Study

Morales

Diemer

2019

Sustainability

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Industrial symbiosis (IS) is presented as an inter-firm organizational strategy with the aim of social innovation that targets material and energy flow optimization but also structural sustainability. In this paper, we present geographical proximity as the theoretical framework used to analyse industrial symbiosis through a methodology based on System Dynamics and the underpinning use of Causal Loop Diagrams, aiming to identify the main drivers and hindrances that reinforce or regulate the industrial symbiosis's sustainability. The understanding of industrial symbiosis is embedded in a theoretical framework that conceptualizes industry as a complex ecosystem in which proximity analysis and stakeholder theory are determinant, giving this methodology a comparative advantage over descriptive statistical forecasting, because it is able to integrate social causal rationality when forecasting attractiveness in a region or individual firm's potential. A successful industrial symbiosis lasts only if it is able to address collective action problems. The stakeholders' influence then becomes essential to the complex understanding of this institution, because by shaping individual behaviour in a social context, industrial symbiosis provides a degree of coordination and cooperation in order to overcome social dilemmas for actors who cannot achieve their own goals alone. The proposed narrative encourages us to draw up scenarios, integrating variables from different motivational value dimensions: efficiency, resilience, cooperation and proximity in the industrial symbiosis. We use the Dunkirk case study to explain the role of geographical systems analysis, identifying loops that reinforce or regulate the sustainability of industrial symbiosis and identifying three leverage points: "Training, workshop and education programs for managers and directors," "Industrial symbiosis governance" and "Agreements in waste regulation conflicts." The social dynamics aims for the consolidation of the network, through stakeholder interaction and explains the local success and failure of every industrial symbiosis through a system dynamics analysis.

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“…Alhola and colleagues () comprehensively assess public procurement opportunities to promote CE. Mayer and colleagues () develop a framework for economy‐wide biophysical assessment of a CE, utilizing and systematically linking official statistics on resource extraction and use and waste flows in a mass‐balanced approach. The study finds that 7.4 billion metric tons of resources were used in the countries of the European Union in 2014, of which less than a tenth (0.7 billion tons) came from re‐ and downcycling.…”

Section: Digging Deeper Into the Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking the circular economy and the Journal of Industrial Ecology to the next level

Lifset

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

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as editorial partners in the publication of the JIE." DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE CIRCULAR ECONOMYIn the introduction to the 2017 special issue on the circular economy (Bocken et al., 2017), the editors urged that researchers, advocates and practitioners take the circular economy (CE) to the next level-moving beyond enthusiasm and promotion to also grapple with the complications and challenges of this emerging framework. 1 This special feature presents recent research that does just that.The special feature includes analysis that provides a systematic understanding of what has already been done, but often overlooked. This includes a comprehensive review of 280 circular economy-related policies by Zhu and colleagues (2018) showing that China has a both a long history and continuous development in this domain. Korea also has a significant and sometimes overlooked history of systematic CE development-of industrial symbiosis-as Park and colleagues (2018) show in their examination of 15 years of Korean eco-industrial park development. Bruel and colleagues (2018) examine the intersection of long-established bodies of research-industrial ecology and ecological economics-as a foundationfor the circular economy and find that a reconciliation of these two fields could increase both the theoretical and practical framework of CE.Several authors look closely at the application of the circular economy to electrical and electronic equipment. Alev and colleagues (2018) examine a form of CE policy toward e-waste. They provide a detailed case study on a market-based implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) in Minnesota. Their analysis details the benefits and trade-offs generated by the operating rules for the EPR scheme. Focusing on photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, Lapko and colleagues (2018) ask why recycling rates of critical raw materials are very low and engagement of companies in closed loop supply chains for such materials is limited. Gallagher and colleagues (2017) also grapple with the concern that renewable energy technologies require large amounts of material resources. They apply life cycle assessment to circular economy strategies targeting hotspots in the systems' life cycle to reveal where potential impacts lie across a variety of environmental indicators. Van der Voet and colleagues (2018) also address the long-term availability of metals through a life-cycle-based scenario analysis. Environmental impacts related to metal production, according to their projections, will increase steeply over the period 2010 to 2050. While recycling will reduce emissions, their analysis indicates it will become effective only in mitigating impacts in the latter half of the twenty-first century. They conclude that "The circular economy 1 See the issue at http://bit.ly/JIE-Circ.

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Measuring Progress towards a Circular Economy: A Monitoring Framework for Economy‐wide Material Loop Closing in the EU28

Cited by 238 publications

References 70 publications

How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy: An assessment of indicators

How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy: An assessment of indicators

Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics, a Strategy to Accomplish Complex Analysis: The Dunkirk Case Study

Taking the circular economy and the Journal of Industrial Ecology to the next level

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