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.     

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

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.     

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.     

Quality Assessment and Circularity Potential of Recovery Systems for Household Plastic Waste

Plastic recycling is promoted in the transition toward a circular economy and a closed plastic loop, typically using mass‐based recycling targets. Plastic from household waste (HHW) is contaminated and heterogeneous, and recycled plastic from HHW often has a limited application range, due to reduced quality. To correctly assess the ability to close plastic loops via recycling, both plastic quantities and qualities need to be evaluated. This study defines a circularity potential representing the ability of a recovery system to close material loops assuming steady‐state market conditions. Based on an average plastic waste composition including impurities, 84 recovery scenarios representing a wide range of sorting schemes, source‐separation efficiencies, and material recovery facility (MRF) configurations and performances were assessed. The qualities of the recovered fractions were assessed based on contamination and the circularity potential calculated for each scenario in a European context. Across all scenarios, 17% to 100% of the generated plastic mass could be recovered, with higher source‐separation and MRF efficiencies leading to higher recovery. Including quality, however, at best 55% of the generated plastic was suitable for recycling due to contamination. Source‐separation, a high number of target fractions, and efficient MRF recovery were found to be critical. The circularity potential illustrated that less than 42% of the plastic loop can be closed with current technology and raw material demands. Hence, Europe is still far from able to close the plastic loop. When transitioning toward a circular economy, the focus should be on limiting impurities and losses through product design, technology improvement, and more targeted plastic waste management.     

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.     

Developing Regenerate: A circular economy engagement tool for the assessment of new and existing buildings

The transition toward a circular economy (CE) is key in decarbonizing the built environment. Despite this, knowledge of—and engagement with—CE philosophies remains limited within the construction industry. Discussion with practitioners reveals this to be contributed to by a lack of clarity regarding CE principles, with numerous organizations recommending implementation of differing and sometimes conflicting principles. In addition, a systematic assessment of how building designs consider CE is made difficult by the multiple design areas required to be considered and the large amount of design data required to do so. The absence of a systematic CE assessment causes a lack of comparability across designs, preventing benchmarking of CE practices in building design at present. This paper details the development of Regenerate, a CE engagement tool for the assessment of new and existing buildings, established in an effort to overcome the aforementioned barriers to the adoption of CE within the construction sector. A CE design workflow for the built environment is proposed, comprising four overarching circularity principles (Design for Adaptability; Design for Deconstructability; Circular Material Selection; Resource Efficiency) and contributing design actions. In addition to engaging stakeholders by enabling the assessment of building designs, the tool retrieves key data for further research. Information on completed design actions as well as recycling and waste metrics is collected to facilitate future CE benchmarking. “Bill of materials” data (i.e., material quantities) is also compiled, with this being key in material stock modeling research and embodied carbon benchmarking.     

Fostering sustainable land restoration through circular economy‐governed transitions

Soil and land are critical common pool resources offering a multitude of ecosystem services (ES) and presently affected by degradation and unplanned exploitation. The present article therefore attempts to elucidate the importance of circular economy in boosting land restoration and realization of several sustainable development goals through efficient waste recycling and clean energy production from degraded lands combined with policy restructuring for aligning circularity with restoration. Integrative policy frameworks targeting a “sustainable restoration economy” can help improve the cost feasibility of restoration projects through circularization of resource value chains besides enhancing social welfare and ecological vitality.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Closing the Loop on E‐waste: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

This paper describes the challenges faced, and opportunities identified, by a multidisciplinary team of researchers developing a novel closed loop system to recover valuable metals and reduce e‐waste, focusing on mobile phones as a case study. This multidisciplinary approach is contrasted with current top‐down approaches to making the transition to the circular economy (CE). The aim of the research presented here is to develop a product service system (PSS) that facilitates the recovery of valuable functional components and metals from mobile phone circuit boards. To create a holistic solution and limit unintended consequences, in addition to technological solutions, this paper considers appropriate component lifetimes; the (often ignored) role of the citizen in the circular economy; customer interaction with the PSS; environmental life cycle assessment; and social impacts of the proposed PSS. Development of enabling technologies and materials to facilitate recovery of components and metals and to provide an emotionally durable external enclosure is described. This research also highlights the importance of understanding value in the CE from a multifaceted and interdisciplinary perspective.     

Nestedness of eco‐industrial networks: Exploring linkage distribution to promote sustainable industrial growth

Eco‐industrial networks (EINs, of which eco‐industrial parks are a subset) have gained support as a solution that simultaneously reduces environmental burdens and promotes economic interests. EINs operate under a mutualistic framework, where waste materials and energy are exchanged between industries to their mutual benefit, creating a diverse web of flows. Recent studies have focused on analogies between food webs (FWs) and EINs, measuring a network's success at ecological imitation as representative of its sustainability. Studies have focused heavily on the number of links and nodes in a network, but have neglected the economic reality that each investment comes at the opportunity cost of all alternatives. This analysis focuses on the nestedness metric as used by ecologists to address this pivotal facet to the FW‐EIN analogy. Nestedness describes an ecological strategy for the position of links between nodes in a network in a way that maximizes network cycling for a given number of connections. This metric presents many advantages for EIN design and analysis, including maturity independence, size normalization, and a strong statistical record in highly mutualistic ecological systems. Application of nestedness to EINs indicates a lower presence of nested structures and more randomness than what is typically seen in FWs. The industrial networks also display a correlation between high nestedness and internal cycles, suggesting that the reuse of materials and energy in EINs can be improved upon by increasing the nestedness of structures.     

基于生态效率的辽宁省循环经济分析

生态效率与循环经济相辅相成。基于区域生态效率评价是考量区域循环经济的重要内容,又基于目前对于循环经济与生态效率结合的实证研究相对较少,因此,以生态效率理论为基础,对我国最早开展循环经济的试点省份——辽宁省的循环经济发展作以综合衡量。通过生态效率度量模型与循环经济度量模型,以辽宁省1990～2008年数据为基础,运用基于熵权的TOPSIS方法,分别计算了19a间辽宁省各年的资源效率、环境效率、生态效率,进而综合评价了辽宁省循环经济发展轨迹。研究表明：在19a间,辽宁省生态效率总体呈现波动上升态势,经历了传统经济发展模式——末端治理模式——循环经济模式的转变;19a间,辽宁省循环经济发展状态总体上处于循环性不断增强的状态,即经济发展的同时,环境压力不断减小。研究证明了辽宁省2002年实行循环经济以来取得了明显成效,对全国尤其是东北地区发展循环经济,走新型工业化道路具有重要的示范意义。     

物质流分析研究述评

物质流分析方法近年来在循环经济和可持续发展研究领域发展迅速。阐述了物质流分析的定义及其与自然生态系统物质流的区别,着重回顾了该研究方法的发展历程,阐明了物质流分析的主要观点、理论基础、研究思路及研究框架,详细阐译和对比分析了物质流分析的六大类指标及分析方法,并在物质流分析框架的基础上,建立循环经济及可持续发展的评价指标体系,并对物质流分析指标体系和方法学的研究意义及其在环境经济学中的地位进行了客观的评价,进而指出了物质流分析方法的不足之处。对物质流分析在不同层次的应用研究也进行了充分的阐述和分析。对物质流分析今后相关领域的进一步研究予以了讨论和展望。     

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。     

Closing the loop on platinum from catalytic converters: Contributions from material flow analysis and circularity indicators

In this study, material flow analysis (MFA) is applied to quantify and reduce the obstacles for advancing a circular economy (CE) of platinum (Pt) from catalytic converters (CC) in Europe. First, the value chain and related stakeholders are mapped out in an MFA‐like model to both facilitate the assessment of stocks and flows, and get a comprehensive view of potential action levers and resources to close‐the‐loop. Then, through the cross analysis of numerous data sources, two MFA are completed: (i) one general MFA, and (ii) one sector‐specific MFA, drawing a distinction between the fate of Pt from (a) light‐duty vehicles, under the European Union's End of Life Vehicle Directive 2000/EC/53, and (b) heavy‐duty and off‐road vehicles. Key findings reveal a leakage of around 15 tons of Pt outside the European market in 2017. Although approximately one quarter of the losses are due to in‐use dissipation, 65% are attributed to insufficient collection and unregulated exports. Comparing the environmental impact between primary and secondary production, it has been estimated that halving the leakage of Pt during usage and collection could prevent the energetic consumption of 1.3 × 10³ TJ and the greenhouse gases emission of 2.5 × 10² kt CO₂ eq. Through the lens of circularity indicators, activating appropriate action levers to enhance the CE performance of Pt in Europe is of utmost importance in order to secure future production of new generations of CC and fuel cells. Moreover, the growing stockpile of Pt from CC in use indicates the need for better collection mechanisms. Also, the CC attrition during use and associated Pt emissions in the environment appears non‐negligible. Based on the scarce and dated publications in this regard, we encourage further research for a sound understanding of this phenomenon that can negatively impact human health.     

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 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.     

Product/Service‐Systems for a Circular Economy: The Route to Decoupling Economic Growth from Resource Consumption?

Product/service‐systems (PSS) that focus on selling service and performance instead of products are often mentioned as means to realize a circular economy (CE), in which economic growth is decoupled from resource consumption. However, a PSS is no implicit guarantee for a CE, and CE strategies do not necessarily lead to decoupling economic growth from resource consumption in absolute terms. Absolute resource decoupling only occurs when the resource use declines, irrespective of the growth rate of the economic driver. In this forum paper, we propose a two‐step framework that aims to support analyses of PSS and their potential to lead to absolute resource decoupling. In the first step, we present four PSS enablers of relative resource reduction that qualify as CE strategies. In the second step, three subsequent requirements need to be met, in order to successfully achieve absolute resource decoupling. Conditions and limitations for this accomplishment are discussed. Danish textile cases are used to exemplify the framework elements and its application. We expect that the framework will challenge the debate on the necessary conditions for CE strategies to ensure absolute resource decoupling.     

The Energetic Metabolism of the European Union and the United States: Decadal Energy Input Time-Series with an Emphasis on Biomass

This article presents an assessment of energy inputs of the European Union (the 15 countries before the 2004 enlargement, abbreviated EU‐15) for the period 1970–2001 and the United States for 1980–2000. The data are based on an energy flow analysis (EFA) that evaluates socioeconomic energy flows in a way that is conceptually consistent with current materials flow analysis (MFA) methods. EFA allows assessment of the total amount of energy required by a national economy; it yields measures of the size of economic systems in biophysical units. In contrast to conventional energy balances, which only include technically used energy, EFA also accounts for socioeconomic inputs of biomass; that is, it also considers food, feed, wood and other materials of biological origin. The energy flow accounts presented in this article do not include embodied energy. Energy flow analyses are relevant for comparisons across modes of subsistence (e.g., agrarian and industrial society) and also to detect interrelations between energy utilization and land use. In the EU‐15, domestic energy consumption (DEC = apparent consumption = domestic extraction plus import minus export) grew from 60 exajoules per year (1 EJ = 10¹⁸ J) in 1970 to 79 EJ/yr in 2001, thus exceeding its territory's net primary production (NPP, a measure of the energy throughput of ecosystems). In the United States, DEC increased from 102 EJ/yr in 1980 to 125 EJ/yr in 2000 and was thus slightly smaller than its NPP. Taken together, the EU‐15 and the United States accounted for about 38% of global technical energy use, 31% of humanity's energetic metabolism, but only 10% of global terrestrial NPP and 11% of world population in the early 1990s. Per capita DEC of the United States is more than twice that of the EU‐15. Calculated according to EFA methods, energy input in the EU and the United States was between one‐fifth and one‐third above the corresponding value reported in conventional energy balances. The article discusses implications of these results for sustainability, as well as future research needs.