Global industrialization and excessive dependence on nonrenewable energy sources have led to an increase in solid waste and climate change, calling for strategies to implement a circular economy in ...all sectors to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Here we review circular economy strategies with focus on waste management, climate change, energy, air and water quality, land use, industry, food production, life cycle assessment, and cost-effective routes. We observed that increasing the use of bio-based materials is a challenge in terms of land use and land cover. Carbon removal technologies are actually prohibitively expensive, ranging from 100 to 1200 dollars per ton of carbon dioxide. Politically, only few companies worldwide have set climate change goals. While circular economy strategies can be implemented in various sectors such as industry, waste, energy, buildings, and transportation, life cycle assessment is required to optimize new systems. Overall, we provide a theoretical foundation for a sustainable industrial, agricultural, and commercial future by constructing cost-effective routes to a circular economy.
Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and Circular Economy (CE) are undoubtedly two of the most debated topics of the last decades. Progressively, they gained the interest of policymakers, practitioners and scholars ...all over the world. Even if they have been usually described as two independent research fields, there are some examples presenting overlaps between these topics, represented by hybrid categories like Circular I4.0 and Digital CE. Starting from these two perspectives, an innovative framework both highlighting the links between I4.0 and CE and unveiling future research fields has been developed. Basing on one of the two perspectives, results show as it is possible to enhance a set of different relations. Depending on a dedicated area of either CE or I4.0 it is possible to see the prevalence of some I4.0 technology than others. However, the influence of I4.0 technologies on CE is always verified.
Circular economy business models (CBMs) are identified as important levers in the transition to a circular economy (CE). In recent years, a growing body of research has examined the barriers and ...enablers to these models, however, the available empirical evidence is still limited while sector-specific assessments are lacking. Our study aims to enrich the research in this field by identifying barriers and enablers to the implementation of a variety of CBMs in the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) sector. Based on this analysis, we provide several policy insights. The EEE sector has been chosen as the focus of this study as a sector with large untapped potential in implementing circularity practices. The study adopts a multi-case study approach and uses a sample of 31 cases developed through the CIRC4Life EU-funded project and the snowball sampling method. To our knowledge, this represents the largest case study sample used to examine CE approaches in the EEE sector. Our findings show that despite the various policy instruments in place to boost the CE transition in this sector, there exist gaps which require policy attention. These include lack of rules for transparency across supply chains, weak enforcement of EU waste legislation rules, limited use of circularity criteria in public tenders and lack of CE standards. Inconsistent requirements stemming from different policy domains can also pose challenges for companies adopting CE practices. Among the suggested actions that can facilitate CE practices include knowledge sharing platforms and business partnerships, R&D project grants, product CE labels, financial incentives and awareness-raising campaigns.
The notion of Circular Economy is often presented as a more sustainable alternative to a 'linear' economic system. However, there is a distinct gap in the academic literature surrounding the concept, ...particularly in terms of implementation. This article provides an initial exploration into critical factors influencing the process of implementation by studying 12 bottom-up CE initiatives in the two Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholder(s) for each initiative in order to identify the perceived importance of the critical factors. In total, 18 critical factors were identified, grouped into 5 overarching categories: financial, institutional, policy and regulatory, technology and knowledge, and social. The analysis shows that the critical factors identified do not act in isolation, and form a complex web of interconnecting critical factors. Furthermore, it illustrates how certain critical factors are of significant influence at particular stages throughout the process of implementation.
European Union (EU) institutions and agencies are increasingly raising awareness on the circular economy agenda. They are encouraging marketplace stakeholders to engage in sustainable production and ...consumption behaviors by reducing, reusing, restoring, refurbishing, and recycling resources in all stages of their value chain. Therefore, this research evaluates the latest European environmental policies including its “new circular economy plans for a cleaner and more competitive Europe.” Afterwards, it presents a systematic literature review that is focused on the circular economy in the EU context. The findings suggest that there are a number of opportunities as well as challenges for the successful planning, organization, implementation, and measurement of circular economy practices for sustainable supply chains in Europe. This contribution identifies key implications and provides reasonable recommendations to policy makers and industry practitioners.
Objetivo: Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar a netnografia como metodologia inserida na perspectiva cultural dos estudos do consumo, discutindo sua origem, características, etapas de ...implementação e seus desafios, além de propor oportunidades de estudos futuros.Método: O artigo é um ensaio teórico realizado a partir de uma reflexão crítica das autoras com base em uma revisão de literatura sobre a netnografia como metodologia de pesquisa.Originalidade/Relevância: Consumidores, cada vez mais, deixam rastros de suas narrativas nas diversas plataformas online existentes, o que significa informação valiosa para gestores e pesquisadores. Entretanto, a netnografia, metodologia que busca interpretar as comunicações humanas mediadas por tecnologias, tem sido relativamente pouco utilizada no ambiente acadêmico brasileiro. O artigo traz uma estruturação detalhada das etapas da netnografia, considerando sua origem e desenvolvimento, visando a ampliar sua utilização por pesquisadores brasileiros.Resultados: Com base em reflexões sobre a literatura existente, o artigo apresenta as 12 fases da netnografia, discute os principais aspectos éticos da metodologia e sugere uma agenda de pesquisa.Contribuições teóricas/metodológicas: Ampliar o uso da netnografia, a partir de uma perspectiva humanista, sobretudo em estudos brasileiros.
This article explores the role of temporality in imagining a desirable future, in the case of the circular economy on the Swedish island of Gotland. By examining how temporal categories, including ...the present and the past and Chronos & Kairos, influence our thinking about the future, it contends that the circular economy offers a unique opportunity to remake the possibilities of what the future can be. The article argues that in articulating depictions of the future, our ideas of the past, the present and the future play a constituent role. Through an analysis of a case study on Gotland, it illustrates the ways in which different temporal understandings are entangled with visions of the circular economy. The findings of this study reveal valuable insights, illustrating that by embracing Chronos and seizing Kairos moments, the circular economy can catalyse transformative possibilities for the future. This aims to contribute to ongoing discussions about the circular economy by highlighting the importance of considering temporal dimensions in imagining sustainable futures.
The circular economy is a widely discussed topic in the field of Eco-industrial initiatives and environmentally responsive economies. The current economic and industrial model which is termed as the ...produce-use-dispose model is a linear model in which the resources are lost forever after their utilization; a waste of resources as well as money. In addition to economic impact, it creates immense pressure on the environment while disposing of the waste products. For this reason, scholars are trying to find an effective solution to this problem by ensuring the re-utilization of resources. The economic concept of the circular economy ensures the recycling and utilization of resources and closes the resource loop. In a world of reducing and often scarce natural resources, the recycling and utilization of resources increase the opportunities for economic growth– this is especially important given the rising demand for natural resources in emerging economies – exacerbated by the low-carbon transition. This study encompasses these ideas and explores the barriers, drivers and triggers of the circular economy transition for the mining industry. In this paper, authors review several circular economy initiatives taken by mining industries. The paper aims to demonstrate some common themes across three big mining companies with the help of content analysis; and evaluates the identified barriers, drivers and triggers of these circular economy initiatives. The authors argue that the mining industry might capitalize on the learning of other industries in relation to CE, enabling timely advancement of circular economy initiatives.
•The circular economy concept is still in its early stages in the mining industry as it is with most primary sectors.•Urban mining is an intriguing and interesting concept which is emerging nowadays.•The mining sector has a crucial role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Circular Economy has undoubtedly become one of the hot topics in public debates about new and more sustainable industrial paradigms and strategies. In this respect, the fashion of Circular Economy is ...in the fact that it aims at overcoming the dominant linear take, make, disposal economy model, i.e. “a traditional open-ended economy model developed with no built-in tendency to recycle, which is reflected by treating the environment as a waste reservoir” (Su et al., 2013). Circular Economy, indeed, bases on the establishment of closed production systems, where resources are reused and kept in a loop of production and usage, allowing generating more value and for a longer period. Despite the interest for Circular Economy by politicians and practitioners, scholars, particularly in the strategic management field, are still struggling with a lack of a framework explaining how companies willing to become circular adapt their existing business model or create a new one. By extensively reviewing, through the lens of business model literature, the extant contributions on Circular Economy, we propose a taxonomy of Circular Economy Business Models based on the degree of adoption of circularity along two major dimensions: (i) the customer value proposition & interface, i.e. the implementation of the circularity concept in proposing value to customers; (ii) the value network, i.e. the ways through which interacting with suppliers and reorganizing the own internal activities. The taxonomy is then initially tested through some explorative case studies, showing in practice the ability of the framework to properly distinguish different modes of adoption of Circular Economy.
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