A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns

The circular economy (CE) requires companies to rethink their supply chains and business models. Several frameworks found in the academic and practitioner literature propose circular economy business models (CEBMs) to redefine how companies create value while adhering to CE principles. A review of these frameworks shows that some models are frequently discussed, some are framework specific, and some use a different wording to refer to similar CEBMs, pointing to the need to consolidate the current state of the art. We conduct a morphological analysis of 26 current CEBMs from the literature, which includes defining their major business model dimensions and identifying the specific characteristics of these dimensions. Based on this analysis, we identify a broad range of business model design options and propose six major CEBM patterns with the potential to support the closing of resource flows: repair and maintenance; reuse and redistribution; refurbishment and remanufacturing; recycling; cascading and repurposing; and organic feedstock business model patterns. We also discuss different design strategies to support the development of these CEBMs.     

Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

The most recognized definition of the circular economy is that it is a restorative and regenerative economy. Despite the wide use and importance attributed to the concepts of “restoration” and “regeneration,” they are rarely defined or explained in the circular economy literature. In this context, this study critically examines the two terms, while providing guidance on their future utilization and development. Specifically, the study investigates the origin of the concepts, their adoption in frameworks that anticipated the idea of the circular economy, and their connotations in the circular economy literature. The examination supports the need for clear and distinct definitions, combined with precision in usage. From a review of the literature, restoration is a better‐defined concept than regeneration, although it needs conceptual re‐enforcement relative to the biological/ecological aspects of the circular economy. This study suggests looking in the direction of restoration ecology, a well‐established branch of ecological research. Conversely, regeneration is a symbolic/evocative term with little practical application in the context of circular systems except in the case of certain agricultural practices. Until new conceptual developments intervene, regeneration does not seem to be applicable to the economy as a whole and because of this, might be abandoned as a guiding principle of the circular economy. Unlike regeneration, restoration can be considered a core principle because it has widespread application and can be a point of reference for circular applications. This does not preclude the possibility that other concepts may be needed to augment restoration.     

A framework to open the black box of the use phase in circular economy life cycle assessments: The case of shell jacket reuse

Life cycle assessments of circular economy measures (CE LCA) of consumer products have been criticized for oversimplifying important aspects of the use phase such as user behavior and rebound effects, limiting our understanding of the environmental performance of circular economy measures. This study tests the usefulness of a framework designed to facilitate accounting for such aspects, by applying the framework to a case study of reuse of shell jackets enabled by “premium secondhand” outdoor stores. Methods for collecting use phase data were user surveys and interviews with store managers. Using the framework on this case study generated several novel insights which are interesting in themselves and as inputs to CE LCA. For instance, secondhand shell jackets have a significantly lower frequency of use during their first use span compared to the second and to shell jackets in the linear reference scenario. This implies that reuse in this case does not function as a mere use extension of otherwise similar use phases as is commonly assumed. The generation of such insights, which hitherto have been lacking in CE LCAs, points to the usefulness of the framework as a tool for opening the “black box” of the use phase in CE LCAs to improve understanding of the environmental performance of circular economy measures.     

The effect of consumption and production policies on circular economy business models: A machine learning approach

The circular economy (CE) is attracting increasing interest, as it can bring environmental, social, and economic benefits. However, policymakers and scholars appear to concentrate more on the production side of CE, while consumption, and particularly policies that affect consumption have received less attention and their effect is ambiguous. This paper investigates the effect of CE consumption policies on circular economy business models (CEBMs) in firms, but also examines the interplay this type of policies have with CE production policies to have a broader picture of the circular economy policy framework and the relevance of each type of policy on firms. While previous studies assume rational and passive consumer behavior, this paper borrows from a natural resource-based view and stakeholder theory, arguing that consumers have a proactive attitude toward the consumption of environmentally friendly products. Moreover, we use institutional theory as an analytical framework for modeling the effects of a particular policy framework on the CEBM. Our analysis combines classical econometric methods with machine learning approaches, employing data from the EU. The results show that CE policies aimed at promoting consumption have a direct and positive effect on CEBMs. This paper also confirms that a wide portfolio of CE policies on production and consumption has a greater effect on the development of CEBMs, due to the complementarity of CE consumption and production policies. Moreover, we show that in interaction with CE production policies, CE policies on consumption have an even greater effect on CEBMs in firms than would have been anticipated.     

Transforming existing local ecosystems to circular economy ecosystems for plastics: The case of the PlastiCity ecosystem

This paper discusses the transition toward a circular economy ecosystem (CEE) for plastics by assessing and mapping existing ecosystems and coordinating efforts among ecosystem actors. The PlastiCity ecosystem is used as a case study. The study employs ecosystem analysis and mapping to identify the new activities and actors needed to transition toward a CEE. These include local and eco-friendly transportation, plastic recycling knowledge management, and upgrading the existing recycling infrastructure. The findings emphasize the significance of the joint orchestration of ecosystem actors facilitated by an ecosystem coordinator and knowledge team to achieve a CEE. It presents a tangible and feasible approach to achieving a local plastic CEE. The policymakers are encouraged to support collaborative orchestration efforts among ecosystem actors and establish knowledge management practices that facilitate ecosystem transitions.     

Plastic value chain and performance metric framework for optimal recycling

Despite the promotion of plastic recycling to sustainably manage plastic waste and advance the circular economy, existing plastic recycling systems globally are largely experiencing low performance and growth. To transition to world-class plastic material recycling and circularity, defining the metrics that impact the performance of a plastic recycling system is crucial. Bringing together existing literature, this study developed a conceptual framework, comprised of eight key performance metrics, for benchmarking recycling success or assessing the degree to which the performance of any plastic recycling system is optimal. Through a value chain approach, the specific performance metrics relevant to each stage of the plastic recycling system, their objectives, and the actors characterizing the system were analyzed in detail. Also, specific maturity models were developed to measure the performance of any plastic recycling system. This framework provides essential knowledge for related stakeholders to inform further development of plastic recycling and a circular economy.     

Efforts for a Circular Economy in China: A Comprehensive Review of Policies

Circular economy concepts, practices, and policies are increasingly drawing attention as important means for the pursuit of sustainable development. This article uses a conceptual framework to catalogue and investigate policy efforts for the circular economy in China. Based on the framework, policy prototypes and specific examples are identified: resource‐oriented, production‐oriented, waste, and use‐oriented and life cycle policies. A comprehensive review of 280 related policies shows that China has a long history of resource‐oriented policies and implemented production‐oriented policies very quickly after the year 2000. China's policies toward the circular economy became more comprehensive through time, with a broad engagement of government agencies, an extensive and progressive coverage of recycling opportunities, production initiatives across multiple scales, and use of different policy instruments. The continuous progress has been driven by proactive state actors and their learning from the international society. The current policy framework, however, is concerned more with the means rather than the ends of the circular economy, and relies too much on direct subsidies and other financial incentives. Policy making can be improved by more explicit consideration of the whole production life cycle and use of market‐based policy design.     

The Relevance of Circular Economy Practices to the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper identifies the extent to which circular economy (CE) practices are relevant for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results of a literature review and a matching exercise to determine the relationship between CE practices and SDG targets show that CE practices, potentially, can contribute directly to achieving a significant number of SDG targets. The strongest relationships exist between CE practices and the targets of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The paper also explores synergies that can be created through CE practices among several of the SDG targets. Furthermore, it identifies several potential trade‐offs between targets for decent work, safe working environments, human health and current CE practices relating to recycling of municipal waste, e‐waste and wastewater, and provides suggestions how these can be overcome. The paper concludes that CE practices can be applied as a “toolbox” and specific implementation approaches for achieving a sizeable number of SDG targets. Further empirical research is necessary to determine which specific types of partnerships and means of implementation are required to apply CE practices in the SDG context.     

面向生态文明的超循环经济:理论、模型与实例

在全球气候变化背景下,研究适应生态文明要求的新的经济运行模式——超循环经济的基本原理、结构模型、运行机理和实际应用。首先,运用系统结构分析方法梳理不同时期经济运行模式的演进过程:由"从摇篮到产品"的粗放经济,到"从摇篮到坟墓"的末端治理经济,再到"从摇篮到摇篮"的循环经济。延续这一绿色发展趋势,根据文明演化的共生理论和艾根创立的超循环理论,提出超循环经济的理论构想,并描绘"从孕育到孕育"的超循环经济的概念结构。其次,将超循环经济思想应用于林纸拓展系统(EFPS)。在分析中国造纸工业的发展现状和瓶颈及其与林业和生态环境相互关系的基础上,按照资源链、生态链和价值链(简称"三链",或3C)逐层拓展的逻辑顺序,研究EFPS超循环经济的系列结构模型。具体来说,依次建立起各层次的超循环结构模型——制浆造纸系统的资源链核心层模型、供应链系统的资源链拓展层模型、生态环境系统的生态链拓展层模型,以及社会经济系统的价值链拓展层模型。然后将各层次的结构模型综合起来,形成EFPS超循环经济的多重拓展-嵌套整体模型。该模型既能展示EFPS超循环经济系统的全貌,又包含其各层次的系统结构。因此既能为各级政府在制定国家和地区的循环经济总体发展规划时提供参考,又能为制造企业、营林组织、供应链、行业协会等各类经济主体的绿色经营决策提供支撑。最后,在上述实证研究的基础上进行理论提升。一方面提出超循环经济的5R原则:减量化、再循环、再利用、再分配和再培育。另一方面基于5R原则和3C循环链,构建5R-3C理论模型,并研究其5R-3C共生运行机理。研究表明,在超循环经济模式下,产业与生态系统可以实现互利共生的良性循环。以上研究成果的主要创新之处在于:在原理上,揭示了面向生态文明的超循环经济的概念结构、本质属性和5R原则;在机理上,创立了超循环经济的5R-3C模型及其共生运行机理;在实施上,以林纸拓展系统为例,为超循环经济理论的"落地生根"和推广应用构建了具体的多重拓展-嵌套模型。     

Dematerialization and the Circular Economy: Comparing Strategies to Reduce Material Impacts of the Consumer Electronic Product Ecosystem

The rapid technological evolution and adoption of consumer electronics highlights a growing need for adaptive methodologies to evaluate material consumption at the intersection of technological change and increasing consumption. While dematerialization and the circular economy (CE) have both been proposed to mitigate increasing material consumption, recent research has shown that these methods may be ineffective at achieving net material use reduction: When focused on specific products, these methods neglect the effects of complex interactions among and increasing consumption of consumer electronic products. The research presented here develops and applies a material flow analysis aimed at evaluating an entire “product ecosystem,” thereby including the effects of increasing consumption, product trade‐offs, and technological innovations. Results are then used to evaluate the potential efficacy of “natural” dematerialization (occurring as technology advances or smaller products substitute for larger ones) and CE (closing the loop between secondary material supply and primary material demand). Results show that material consumption by the ecosystem of electronics commonly used by U.S. households peaked in 2000. This consumption relies on increasingly diverse materials, including gold, cobalt, and indium, for whom secondary supply is still negligible, particularly given low recovery rates, often less than 1%. Potential circularity metrics of material “dilution,” “dispersion,” and “demand mismatch” are also evaluated, and indicate that CE approaches aimed at closing the loop on consumer electronic material still face several critical barriers particularly related to design and efficient recycling infrastructure.     

Exploiting the Potential of Public Procurement: Opportunities for Circular Economy

The objective of a circular economy (CE) is to maintain the value of products, materials, and resources in the economy by closing material loops and minimizing waste generation. In recent years, the role of public procurement has been recognized as an important, but as yet not fully exploited, opportunity by cities and municipalities in their transition toward circular societies. This study analyzed public procurement opportunities to promote CE. Different approaches and examples of circular public procurement were identified using case studies. In addition, opportunities to promote CE through sustainable and green public procurement policy were identified analyzing predefined sustainable or green public procurement criteria. The study concludes that public procurement can promote CE and related business models by setting criteria and requirements for the extension of product life spans, efficiency and/or intensity of use, and efficient cycling of biological or technical materials, as well as for the securing of clean and nonrisky cycles. Circular procurement can occur through the procurement of better‐quality products in circular terms, the procurement of new circular products, the use of business concepts that support the CE, and investments in circular ecosystems. Several sectors and product groups were identified as having potential for circular procurement, such as construction, waste, and wastewater management, transportation, food, and catering, furniture, and textiles. The study also suggests that the use of certain tools, such as performance‐based procurement, life cycle approach, and life cycle costing, as well as criteria concerning reuse and recycling of materials, could promote circular procurement. Market dialogue and cooperation between procurers and actors in the supply chains are important for the future development of circular procurement.     

Models,mechanisms and pathways of succession

The study of succession has been hampered by the lack of a general theory. This is illustrated by confusion over basic concepts and inadequacy of certain models. This review clarifies the basic ideas of pathway, mechanism, and model in succession. Second, in order to prevent inappropriate narrowness in successional studies, we analyze the mechanistic adequacy of the most widely cited models of succession, those of Connell and Slatyer. This analysis shows that models involving a single pathway or a dominant mechanism cannot be treated as alternative, testable hypotheses. Our review shows much more mechanistic richness than allowed by these widely cited models of succession. Classification of the mechanisms of specific replacement, called for by existing models, is problematic and less valuable than the search for the actual mechanisms of particular seres. For example, the “tolerance” mechanism of succession has at least two contrasting meanings and is unlikely to be disentangled from the “inhibition” mechanism in field experiments. However, the understanding of particular species replacements through experiment and knowledge of the conditions of a particular sere and species life histories is a reasonable and desirable goal. Finally, we suggest the need for a broad mechanistic concept of succession. Thus, based on classical causes of succession that have survived recent scrutiny, we erect a framework of successional mechanisms. This framework aims at comprehensiveness, and specific mechanisms are nested within more general causes. As a result of its breadth and hierarchical structure, the framework performs two important functions: First, it provides a context for studies at specific sites and, second, is a scheme for formulating general and testable hypotheses. The review of specific successional mechanisms and the general mechanistic framework can together guide future work on succession, and may foment the development of a broad theory.     

Nutrigenomics-based personalised nutritional advice: in search of a business model?

Nutritional advice has mainly focused on population-level recommendations. Recent developments in nutrition, communication, and marketing sciences have enabled potential deviations from this dominant business model in the direction of personalisation of nutrition advice. Such personalisation efforts can take on many forms, but these have in common that they can only be effective if they are supported by a viable business model. The present paper takes an inventory of approaches to personalised nutrition currently available in the market place as its starting point to arrive at an identification of their underlying business models. This analysis is presented as a unifying framework against which the potential of nutrigenomics-based personalised advice can be assessed. It has uncovered nine archetypical approaches to personalised nutrition advice in terms of their dominant underlying business models. Differentiating features among such business models are the type of information that is used as a basis for personalisation, the definition of the target group, the communication channels that are being adopted, and the partnerships that are built as a part of the business model. Future research should explore the consumer responses to the diversity of “archetypical” business models for personalised nutrition advice as a source of market information on which the delivery of nutrigenomics-based personalised nutrition advice may further build.     

Taking stock for repair and refurbishing: A review of harvesting of spare parts from electrical and electronic products

A circular economy (CE) calls for the value of materials and products to be maintained and recovered through narrowing, closing, and slowing loops. However, there remain challenges in capturing value through reuse of components in refurbished and repaired products. In this paper, we provide an overview of the research and practice of harvesting spare parts from used and waste electrical and electronic equipment (white goods and consumer electronic products). Through a literature review and case studies of Norway, Sweden, and California, we provide an overview of drivers and barriers for spare part harvesting. Applying a stakeholder value mapping framework, we identify the key stakeholders involved in spare part harvesting and map the values captured, missed, and destroyed to identify opportunities for increased value retention. Finally, we suggest further refinements for policy to upscale spare part harvesting in light of CE goals and objectives.     

Potential for industrial ecology to support healthcare sustainability: Scoping review of a fragmented literature and conceptual framework for future research

Healthcare is a critical service sector with a sizable environmental footprint from both direct activities and the indirect emissions of related products and infrastructure. As in all other sectors, the “inside‐out” environmental impacts of healthcare (e.g., from greenhouse gas emissions, smog‐forming emissions, and acidifying emissions) are harmful to public health. The environmental footprint of healthcare is subject to upward pressure from several factors, including the expansion of healthcare services in developing economies, global population growth, and aging demographics. These factors are compounded by the deployment of increasingly sophisticated medical procedures, equipment, and technologies that are energy‐ and resource‐intensive. From an “outside‐in” perspective, on the other hand, healthcare systems are increasingly susceptible to the effects of climate change, limited resource access, and other external influences. We conducted a comprehensive scoping review of the existing literature on environmental issues and other sustainability aspects in healthcare, based on a representative sample from over 1,700 articles published between 1987 and 2017. To guide our review of this fragmented literature, and to build a conceptual foundation for future research, we developed an industrial ecology framework for healthcare sustainability. Our framework conceptualizes the healthcare sector as comprising “foreground systems” of healthcare service delivery that are dependent on “background product systems.” By mapping the existing literature onto our framework, we highlight largely untapped opportunities for the industrial ecology community to use “top‐down” and “bottom‐up” approaches to build an evidence base for healthcare sustainability.     

Scientific motherhood,responsibility, and hope: umbilical cord blood banking in South Korea

This paper explores how concepts of hope, motherhood, responsibility, and science are mobilized and transformed in the marketing strategies of private cord blood banks in South Korea. Cord blood banking provides a useful case study of the “political economy of hope,” which emphasizes future expectations over current utility. In particular, appeals to hope are rendered natural as being applied in relation to various concepts of motherhood (e.g. “scientific motherhood” and “consumer motherhood”), thereby refiguring ideas of a mother's responsibility to her child. In South Korea, cord blood banks rely heavily on the discourse of “scientific motherhood,” which is based on certain gender norms and ideas about science, modernity, and “advanced society.” By exploring the discourse of scientific motherhood, this study reexamines the “political economy of hope” through the lenses of gender and transnationalism.     

Race,ethnicity and disciplinary divides: what is the path forward?

We pose several questions that emerged for us from Valdez and Golash-Boza’s “U.S. Racial and Ethnic Relations in the twenty-first Century.” First, we raise questions about their framing of the problem with current scholarship – are immigration/ethnicity and race scholars talking past each other or are they having more fundamental disagreements? Second, we raise questions about their critique of the “the race literature” – do too many of us ignore questions of agency and inclusion? Finally, we raise questions about the stability and utility of the concepts they deploy (“race” and “ethnicity”) and draw on recent scholarship that has argued that we need new language or frameworks to adequately describe the reality on the ground.     

基于生态效率的江西省循环经济发展模式

循环经济发展模式的研究是当今可持续发展研究及政府相关决策的核心内容,生态效率则是循环经济的合适测度,它是资源能源效率和环境效率的综合表征指标。基于生态效率度量模型和循环经济发展模式的判别模型,以江西省为例,分析其在2000-2010年间循环经济发展模式的变化轨迹。结果表明:(1) 能源消耗与经济发展表现出同步增长的趋势;(2) 各种资源和环境效率均有所上升,其环境效率总体上大于资源效率,按效率增加快慢的排序为:固体废弃物排放效率 > 建设用地效率 > COD排放效率 > 水资源效率 > SO₂排放效率 > 能源效率;(3) 江西省循环经济发展走的是一条由传统线性经济模式到末端治理模式再到循环经济模式的发展道路,符合环境库兹尼茨曲线发展规律,即无害化→减量化→资源化。对研究方法的创新性进行了谨慎的探讨,对区域循环经济发展所应注意的问题提出的建议。     

Progress in achieving quantitative classification of psychopathology

Shortcomings of approaches to classifying psychopathology based on expert consensus have given rise to contemporary efforts to classify psychopathology quantitatively. In this paper, we review progress in achieving a quantitative and empirical classification of psychopathology. A substantial empirical literature indicates that psychopathology is generally more dimensional than categorical. When the discreteness versus continuity of psychopathology is treated as a research question, as opposed to being decided as a matter of tradition, the evidence clearly supports the hypothesis of continuity. In addition, a related body of literature shows how psychopathology dimensions can be arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from very broad “spectrum level” dimensions, to specific and narrow clusters of symptoms. In this way, a quantitative approach solves the “problem of comorbidity” by explicitly modeling patterns of co‐occurrence among signs and symptoms within a detailed and variegated hierarchy of dimensional concepts with direct clinical utility. Indeed, extensive evidence pertaining to the dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology has led to the formation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Consortium. This is a group of 70 investigators working together to study empirical classification of psychopathology. In this paper, we describe the aims and current foci of the HiTOP Consortium. These aims pertain to continued research on the empirical organization of psychopathology; the connection between personality and psychopathology; the utility of empirically based psychopathology constructs in both research and the clinic; and the development of novel and comprehensive models and corresponding assessment instruments for psychopathology constructs derived from an empirical approach.     

Sustainability criteria and indicators of bioenergy systems from steering,research and Finnish bioenergy business operators’ perspectives

This paper addresses the interface of steering, research, and business operators’ perspectives to bioenergy sustainability. Although bioenergy business operators are essential for sustainable development of bioenergy systems through implementation of sustainability criteria, their perspective to sustainability is rarely studied. We systematically studied the relevant sustainability criteria and indicators from the three perspectives in different stages of a general bioenergy life cycle and in different sustainability dimensions, and evaluated bioenergy operators’ sustainability principles, criteria and indicators simultaneously with respect to the steering and research data and a business sustainability maturity framework. We collected data from literature and a workshop for Finnish bioenergy experts. The results show a similar division of steering and operators’ sustainability criteria and indicators to life cycle stages and sustainability dimensions with a slight emphasis on business economic sustainability from operators’ perspective. The acceptability principle could provide bioenergy operators a meaningful way of identifying the role of sustainability criteria and indicators from steering and research sources in advancing their business sustainability maturity.