The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context

TLDR: In this article, a revised definition of the circular economy is proposed, where planning, resourcing, procurement, production and reprocessing are designed and managed, as both process and output, to maximize ecosystem functioning and human well-being.

Abstract: There have long been calls from industry for guidance in implementing strategies for sustainable development. The Circular Economy represents the most recent attempt to conceptualize the integration of economic activity and environmental wellbeing in a sustainable way. This set of ideas has been adopted by China as the basis of their economic development (included in both the 11th and the 12th ‘Five Year Plan’), escalating the concept in minds of western policymakers and NGOs. This paper traces the conceptualisations and origins of the Circular Economy, tracing its meanings, and exploring its antecedents in economics and ecology, and discusses how the Circular Economy has been operationalized in business and policy. The paper finds that while the Circular Economy places emphasis on the redesign of processes and cycling of materials, which may contribute to more sustainable business models, it also encapsulates tensions and limitations. These include an absence of the social dimension inherent in sustainable development that limits its ethical dimensions, and some unintended consequences. This leads us to propose a revised definition of the Circular Economy as “an economic model wherein planning, resourcing, procurement, production and reprocessing are designed and managed, as both process and output, to maximize ecosystem functioning and human well-being”.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions mentioned in the paper "The circular economy: an interdisciplinary exploration of the concept and its application in a global context" ?

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Q2. What future works have the authors mentioned in the paper "The circular economy: an interdisciplinary exploration of the concept and its application in a global context" ?

Future research should begin to incorporate the latest ecological knowledge into their understanding of naturalistic economical models and systems, without silencing the social and human dimension. 

Q3. What is the main point of the paper?

The paper finds that while the Circular Economy places emphasis on the redesign of processes and cycling of materials, which may contribute to more sustainable business models, it also encapsulates tensions and limitations. 

Q4. what is the impact of re-aligning economic and management practice with properly formulated?

The implications of re-aligning economic and management practice with properly formulated ecological and social models can only contribute positively to the development of ethical and sustainable business practice. 

Q5. How long does it take for oxygen to cycle through the atmosphere?

Carbon dioxide takes four years to cycle through the atmosphere (Siegenthaler and Sarmiento 1993) while atmospheric oxygen takes 3.7 million years (Keeling et al. 1993). 

Q6. What is the impact of the biofuel drive on the environment?

demand for biofuel has contributed directly to the loss of millions of acres of tropical forest which are replaced by soy fields, for biofuel production (Farigone et al. 2008). 

Q7. What is the purpose of this paper?

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to trace the conceptualisation and origins of the Circular Economy, bringing to bear theoretical concepts from environmental economics, ecological economics and industrial ecology to the business and sustainability relationship. 

Q8. What is the main theme of the Brundtland Report?

A feature of the analysis in The Brundtland Report (WCED 1987) is the call for a holistic approach to be taken by societies (including businesses) towards issues of consumption in general. 

Q9. Who has the fully adopted the concept of circular economy?

The nation that has most fully embraced the implementation and development of circular economy concepts thus far is China, having developed an ambitious program of applying the concept (Zhou et al. 2014). 

Q10. What is the origin of the term circular economy?

Page 10Pearce and Turner (1990) claim that the term ‘circular economy’ was first used in western literature in the 1980s, to describe a closed system of economy-environment interactions. 

Q11. What is the concept of appropriate technology?

This brings us to the concept of appropriate technology, developed by Schumacher (1973), wherein smaller scale, locally adaptive solutions have less environmental impact than large scale global solutions. 

Q12. What was the French Executive Commissioner for Sustainable Development saying in June 2014?

In France, in the same timeframe, parliamentarians took upon themselves to form a ‘circular economy club’ 1 , and in an interview in June 2014, during France’s ‘Green Week’ Jean-Paul Albertini, the French Executive Commissioner for Sustainable Development affirmed France’s commitment to ‘turn France into a leading company, when it comes to the circular economy’