No abstract

In recent years, the shift to a circular economy (CE) has become an increasingly important component of the European Union’s development strategy. However, no consensus has yet been reached on the depth of the transformation this implies, nor on the most appropriate strategy for its measurement. In 2018, the European Commission presented a monitoring framework to evaluate the progress made in this transition, focused on the priority objectives of the European strategy for the CE. This article aims to discuss the conceptualization of the CE behind the selection and interpretation of the metrics proposed by the commission. It is argued that the chosen indicators are mostly concerned with material self-sufficiency and recycling, neglecting other dimensions of the concept more closely related to systemic change. Moreover, some issues that are relevant from a CE perspective, such as the disparate distribution of recyclable material flows among EU Member States in terms of value and environmental impact, are overlooked in the interpretation of the available information. Consequently, a more ambitious and diverse selection of metrics is suggested to reflect the wider socio-economic and environmental objectives of the CE, thus preventing the dissemination of a limited version of the concept.

Circular economy goals have made their way towards the very heart of EU policy, promising the delivery of both economic and environmental goals, but key to their achievement is the active involvement and participation of businesses. Scholarly literature has made considerable headway in describing the diverse CE business model archetypes and the enablers and barriers that can nurture the transition toward them. However, little work has been done to assess a more profound distinction—that between enterprises that are born circular in contrast with incumbent businesses that grow into circularity. We review 18 case studies of businesses in Europe, which shed light on this distinction. A systematic analysis of their internal, contextual, and policy issues results in the identification of ten key enablers (including business targets, cost reduction potential, loyal customers, demographic aspects, growing waste flows, environmentalism, EU policy, circular policy, and dis/incentives as well as sectoral considerations) and ten key barriers (including bottom line concerns, problematic consumer preferences, lack of infrastructure, technological barriers, poor access to finance, competition, lack of EU harmonisation, uncertainty and lack of internalisation of externalities, and the presence of obstructive policy). We observe that businesses which are born circular seem to face fewer barriers than those seeking to grow into circularity, a finding which offers hope for the transition to a circular economy. Our analysis also suggests that while some enablers and barriers cut across different types of businesses, others tend to be more prevalent among enterprises of a certain size or sector.

The circular economy has the potential to promote systemic change towards a sustainable future. However, the dominance of technical and market-oriented considerations has placed the circular economy as part of an eco-modernist agenda, which retains growth in gross domestic product as the overarching priority. In this context, we analyse 12 existing macroeconomic indicators, developed and implemented by governments and international organisations, and determine if they could enact alternative notions of circularity. Specifically, we focus on the performative role that indicators can play in both defining and surmounting such reductionist views, thus helping us to address the world we want to create. We find that many of these indicators are agents of the status quo, but that some could disrupt the omnipotence of GDP thereby getting the macroeconomic conditions right for a more ambitious understanding of the circular economy.

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