“Squaring the Circle”—The Disregarded Institutional Theory and the Distorted Practice of Packaging Waste Recycling in Romania

Abstract

The European Union (EU) remains one of the leading-edge jurisdictions on the planet in legislating and enforcing the circular economy, a token of its forthright environmental awareness. Still, given that the level of economic development across the EU member states is heterogenous, this concern, however generous it may be, looks too beyond “their” means and too ahead of “its” times. What the European policymakers seem to disregard is that top-down institutional constructions, as is the case with the EU’s overambitious environmental legislation, can end up in severe distortions. Imposing/importing an institutionalized arrangement without due preparation may fuel resistance to (even positive) change, as the biases it engenders translate into considerable costs and selective benefits. The present article attempts a novel approach within the literature, where the failure to achieve recycling targets is usually considered the fault of private businesses. Instead, our study explains suboptimal environmental results by the institutionalization of spiraling governmental interventions in markets, meant to make the arbitrarily set recycling/reuse targets artificially viable. Subject to EU rules, Romania’s packaging waste recycling market is a textbook case in revealing this outcome predicted by economic theory, as our statistical data suggest. The conclusion is that it is equally perilous to neglect the calibration of legislative targets according to institutional and economic development as it is to reject environmental claims based on their costs.

Romania’s Perspectives on the Transition to the Circular Economy in an EU Context

“…Regarding the approach to the issue of the circular economy, it is realized in the theoretical [3,[53][54][55], empirical [56], as well as practical dimensions. Within the research methods a series of econometric models-such as multilinear regression models or time series analysis-are considered suitable for identifying the development of the circular economy under the new paradigm, determining the dependency of the main CE factors on EU economic growth [52,[57][58][59], or developing methods for multi-criteria decision-making problems [60][61][62].…”

“…• 2018-the European Commission adopts the packet regarding the circular economy, which contains ambitious waste recycling and depositing objectives [92]; establishes the monitoring framework for the circular economy [63] and contains the first European-level strategy regarding plastic materials [93] In the specialised literature the regulating framework for the circular economy at European Union level is considered to be "one of the most complex and progressive legal frameworks in the world" [54] and thriving [55], taking into account the fact that "legal rules set to a substantial extent the pace for the progress made by important actors in the transition towards a CE" [96], containing multiple approaches and concerns, such as:…”

Transforming the COVID-19 Threat into an Opportunity: The Pandemic as a Stage to the Sustainable Economy

“…At the level of the European Union, the implementation of the circular economy reflects the European Union's direct awareness of the environment [29]. However, Europe's goal is to achieve climate neutrality through gradual and irreversible reductions and long-term goals, in order to build a resilient economy and a resilient society, and not through disruptive shocks [28].…”