Why “Circular” doesn't always mean “Sustainable”

Blum, Nicola U.; Haupt, Mélanie; Bening, Catharina R.

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105042

Cited by 117 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Some approaches also assess the impacts of CE practices and strategies on sustainable development [11,12]. Assessing the impacts of CE activity on sustainable development can be of paramount importance, as CE practices do not automatically lead to an overall increase in sustainable development [13]. The CE assessment approaches target three levels: the micro level of organisations, products, and materials; the meso-level of industrial networks; and the macro level of policies and regulations [14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming Current Challenges for Circular Economy Assessment Implementation in Public Sector Organisations

2021

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Circular Economy (CE) is seen as a key strategy in achieving sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To seize the potential of CE, public and private organisations need to evaluate and communicate their progress moving away from the non-sustainable paradigm of “take–make–dispose” towards circularity. The literature and practitioners demonstrate a growing interest in CE assessment as a driver for this transition. Nevertheless, the majority of CE assessments are implemented in private companies and implementation in public sector organisations is low. This article presents the challenges that currently prevent public sector organisations from implementing CE assessment and derives strategies to overcome them. A total of 21 CE and assessment experts from the Portuguese public sector were interviewed, and the results were triangulated with an extensive policy document review. The findings show that cultural barriers, particularly a lack of public and political pressure as well as a resistance towards change, are considered the main challenges for CE assessment implementation. Cultural challenges drive structural ones such as a lack of leadership commitment, the voluntary nature, and a missing clear governance for CE assessment. Technical and financial challenges, contrary to previous findings of the literature, are not prioritised and are seen as a result of the cultural and structural challenges. Overall, the research suggests that CE assessment is often a discussion among academics and highly specialised practitioners. In order to drive its implementation, the debate has to involve stakeholders beyond expert circles to trigger awareness for its necessity and to facilitate usage for a broader audience.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming Current Challenges for Circular Economy Assessment Implementation in Public Sector Organisations

2021

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“…While the CE approach sounds promising, it is far from obvious if it can make a significant contribution to the design of an environmentally sustainable economy. Several limitations and uncertainties exist that can prevent the environmental superiority of a CE approach over the linear way of today's production [12,13]. For example, a high percentage of recycled materials in a product could reduce the lifetime of that product.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Consequences of Closing the Textile Loop—Life Cycle Assessment of a Circular Polyester Jacket

et al. 2021

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The textile industry is recognized as being one of the most polluting industries. Thus, the European Union aims to transform the textile industry with its “European Green Deal” and “Circular Economy Action Plan”. Awareness regarding the environmental impact of textiles is increasing and initiatives are appearing to make more sustainable products with a strong wish to move towards a circular economy. One of these initiatives is wear2wearTM, a collaboration consisting of multiple companies aiming to close the loop for polyester textiles. However, designing a circular product system does not lead automatically to lower environmental impacts. Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment study has been conducted in order to compare the environmental impacts of a circular with a linear workwear jacket. The results show that a thoughtful “circular economy system” design approach can result in significantly lower environmental impacts than linear product systems. The study illustrates at the same time the necessity for Life Cycle Assessment practitioners to go beyond a simple comparison of one product to another when it comes to circular economy. Such products require a wider system analysis approach that takes into account multiple loops, having interconnected energy and material flows through reuse, remanufacture, and various recycling practices.

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“…Blum et al [78] affirm that CE can be considered as sustainable only if material circularity, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability are positively developed. A comprehensive CE approach can contribute to the solution to complex issues involving the Agenda 2030 topics through the creation of best practices, intended as methodologies to be applied to specific cases.…”

Section: Support From Governmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Circular Economy to Circular Ecology: A Review on the Solution of Environmental Problems through Circular Waste Management Approaches

Adami

Schiavon

2021

Sustainability

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(1) Background: The application of concepts linked to the circular economy (CE) has led to a sudden development of studies in numerous fields. However, the level of environmental sustainability of CE strategies could be improved and this topic deserves more attention by the scientific community. This research addresses this gap and aims at presenting a new concept, named circular ecology (CEL), and its application to the field of waste management. (2) Methods: The paper presents a literature review on the criticalities of CE and on examples of studies that implement the CEL principles. (3) Results: The review highlights that CEL principles are widely applied to several fields of waste management, showing promising opportunities to export the results to other geographical contexts. (4) Conclusions: If supported by governments, CEL approaches may allow solving multiple environmental problems at once, with clear economic, time, resources, and emission savings.

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Why “Circular” doesn't always mean “Sustainable”

Cited by 117 publications

References 3 publications

Overcoming Current Challenges for Circular Economy Assessment Implementation in Public Sector Organisations

Overcoming Current Challenges for Circular Economy Assessment Implementation in Public Sector Organisations

Environmental Consequences of Closing the Textile Loop—Life Cycle Assessment of a Circular Polyester Jacket

From Circular Economy to Circular Ecology: A Review on the Solution of Environmental Problems through Circular Waste Management Approaches

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