A policy framework for the circular economy: Lessons from the EU

Hartley, Kris; Schülzchen, Steffen; Bakker, Conny A.; Kirchherr, Julian

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137176

Cited by 20 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Despite increasing interest in and support for CE, global production systems remain linear [21]. This perpetuation of linearity is partly due to barriers (bottlenecks) obstructing CE transitions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has since fallen to 7.2%, measured for 2023 [29]. The CE transition needs additional support [21].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the concept of CE, it is essential to increase the useful lifetime of materials by reducing, reusing, recycling, and recovering them, approaches already widely accepted as the foundations of CE [11]. The goal is to keep materials and resources active in the economy for as long as possible and minimise waste [11,21].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers and Barriers for the Adoption of Circular Economy Principles towards Efficient Resource Utilisation

Alivojvodic,

Kokalj

2024

Sustainability

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Contemporary societies, whether they have reached advanced levels of economic and social development or are still developing, need to prioritise the implementation of circular economy practices. This will facilitate the shift towards regenerative, sustainable, and closed-loop industrial systems. For now, there are some efforts to encourage patterns of production and consumption through changes in economic trends, development of institutional frameworks, harmonising regulations in the field of environmental protection, and raising the level of social awareness to achieve, above all, greater efficiency of resources. Extensive literature that deals with monitoring the implementation of the circular economy already indicates the existence of numerous barriers in this process but also notices some incentives for raising the degree of circularity of the observed systems. In this paper, the question of whether a single value can represent the level of circularity of the chosen material/product chain is researched. An overview of barriers and drivers for implementing circular economy strategies is given to structure a proper metric framework in correlation to the research question. The objective was to simplify the monitoring of circularity by developing a unique index for comparing material/product chains in similar systems. This was accomplished by using the circular material use (CMU) rate introduced in the European Union and modifying it for financial data calculation. As a result, the circular economy index, which covers all 9R strategies (CEIR), is obtained. The practical verification of model applicability was shown by determining the degree of circularity achieved for passenger cars in the four observed EU countries.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has since fallen to 7.2%, measured for 2023 [29]. The CE transition needs additional support [21].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers and Barriers for the Adoption of Circular Economy Principles towards Efficient Resource Utilisation

Alivojvodic,

Kokalj

2024

Sustainability

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“…Within just a few years CE principles have been adopted by policy makers around the world-in the European Union (EU), China, Africa, and the U.S. [22]. Yet, despite these developments, most companies have not made radical changes to their traditional, linear business models [23]. Researchers have reported a range of barriers such as technological, economic, and financial limitations, supplier relationships, information, market and networking, human resource challenges, social and cultural, regulatory and institutional, and organizational pressures [23,24].…”

Section: Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Consumption-key To Addr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, despite these developments, most companies have not made radical changes to their traditional, linear business models [23]. Researchers have reported a range of barriers such as technological, economic, and financial limitations, supplier relationships, information, market and networking, human resource challenges, social and cultural, regulatory and institutional, and organizational pressures [23,24]. Policy makers have also been reluctant to advance radical measures to address consumption and waste and have continued to rely on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the key policy indicator, which directly promotes consumption by individuals and businesses.…”

Section: Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Consumption-key To Addr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Priorities, Drivers and Barriers in the Craft Beer Sector: Insights from Massachusetts Breweries

Veleva,

Todorova,

Bleau

et al. 2024

Highlights Sustain.

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This article provides empirical research about the environmental priorities, drivers, and barriers in the craft beer sector. It is based on a survey of 43 Massachusetts craft breweries. The authors found that the top three environmental drivers for the industry include: being an environmental steward (81%), saving money (67%), and maintaining a good reputation with the community (63%). The most significant challenges preventing craft breweries from adopting pollution prevention and environmental sustainability strategies include: lack of financial resource (74%), limited knowledge about their opportunities (67%), and lack of time (67%). The top three pollution prevention areas of interest to Massachusetts craft breweries include energy efficiency (88% of participants), water efficiency (76%), and using safer chemicals (67%). In addition, over 80% of participants expressed interest in a “Green Brewery” recognition, obtaining information about state and other incentives and grants, and preventing waste through reuse or recycling. Spent grain management, recycling, and waste prevention are the three areas where craft breweries perform best presently. Wastewater reduction and reducing the use of hazardous chemicals are the most challenging areas for them. The re-search also found some differences in the priorities and drivers when comparing nanobreweries (with a production of fewer than 1000 beer barrels (bbl)/year) and larger craft breweries (with a production over 1000 bbl/year). The study findings provide valuable insights for devising effective policies and actions to support the sector’s adoption of pollution prevention.

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