Targets for a circular economy
By Piero Morseletto. 2020
1,070 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Abstract The transition to a circular economy requires actions and policies. In the praxis of governance, a common way to steer the transition to a different state proceeds through the setting of targets. Thus far, no study has investigated circular economy targets in a systematic way. To bridge this gap, this study examines which targets can facilitate the transition towards a circular economy. The analysis focuses both on existing and new targets; the latter complement existing targets which are limited to a few discrete cases addressing only partially the goal of a more circular economy. A framework based on 10 common circular economy strategies (i.e. recover, recycling, repurpose, remanufacture, refurbish, repair, re-use, reduce, rethink, refuse) is applied to scrutinise the selected targets. The study clarifies that existing targets for recovery and recycling do not necessarily promote a circular economy, though they are the most commonly applied targets so far. Because of lack of efficacy of recovery and recycling, targets should instead favour other more powerful circular economy strategies. In relation to these, the study looks into new and existing targets showing how they can reduce waste, increase efficiency, close production loops, and maximise retention of the economic value of materials and products. In particular, the study proposes an expanded set of brand new targets for the transition to a circular economy together with a fresh view on targets aimed at scholars and decision-makers alike.
Subfields: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Marketing, Strategy and Management
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d868c703feac91a8ae32cc6137dfa29feab3d973
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Citations in the corpus
- Plastic recycling in additive manufacturing: A systematic literature review and opportunities for the circular economy (2020, background): “Many authors have pointed out the practices of the R framework as core principles of CE (Milios, 2018; Morseletto, 2020; Rosa et al., 2019).”
- Addressing the Social Aspects of a Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review (2020, background): “The role of institutions/governance have (reported in 3 out 60) gai ed an insight within CE practitioners becau e t ey provide the basic requirements for transit oning to CE, and th y also stimulate the creation of ew policies enhancing sustainability [13,44].”
- Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy (2020, background): “Reuse, repair, renewal, refurbishment, remanufacture, maintenance, and upgrading are life-extension strategies for products (Morseletto, 2020).”
- The role of private sector in the implementation of sustainable development goals (2020, neutral): “According to Morseletto (2020), CE is “an economic model aimed at the efficient use of resources through waste minimization, long-term value retention, reduction of primary resources, and closed loops of products, product parts, and materials within the boundaries of environmental protection and…”