Comparing European countries' performances in the transition towards the Circular Economy

Marino, Alfonso; Pariso, Paolo

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138142

Cited by 125 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Source: compiled by authors based onMarino and Pariso (2020),Saidani et al (2019),Avdiushchenko and Zaj (2019), European Commission (2014), European Enviromental Agency (2016), Ellen MacArthur (2015),Veleva et al (2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular economy as assistance for sustainable development in OECD countries

Skvarciany

Lapinskaitė

Volskytė

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research background: Circular economy is of great importance, as it plays a vital role in ensuring the reuse of waste created and, therefore, reduces the waste of limited resources, which is the primary goal of the general economic concept. In line with the circular economy, sustainable development gains great attention, as the United Nations announced the sustainable development goals that should be reached by 2030. Hence, the current paper aims at examining whether the circular economy could be treated as an effective assistance tool for sustainable development of OECD countries. Purpose of the article: The paper aims to investigate whether the circular economy could serve as an assistance tool for sustainable development and, therefore, seeks to determine if the circular economy could directly impact a country?s sustainable development. Methods: First, the countries chosen were prioritised using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) methodologies. AHP method was used for weight assignment to the circular economy indicators that were further used for OECD countries? prioritisation procedure for which multi-criteria decision-making method EDAS was employed. Second, to reveal a link between the circular economy ranking results and sustainable development, a comparative analysis was done. Third, the impact of the country?s circular economy on sustainable development was evaluated using the fixed-effect regression model on four years of panel data from 2016 to 2019 for the sample of 32 OECD countries. Findings & value-added: The comparative analysis of the circular economy?s prioritisation results and Sustainable Development Goals Index (SDGI) ranking showed 20 out of 32 matches, assuming a link between the circular economy and sustainable development could be made. The fixed-effect regression equation results demonstrate that the unemployment rate, poverty rate, air pollution exposure, and CO2 emission per capita negatively influence sustainable development. In contrast, indicators such as gross domestic expenditure on R&D, renewable energy, number of passenger cars in use, and households with Internet access positively impact SDGI. The hypothesis that the circular economy is seen as an assistance for sustainable development and directly affects a country?s sustainability was approved. The paper contributes to the scientific literature in the field of circular economy and sustainable development interaction and could be seen as an assumption for new research directions, focusing on the linkage between circular economy and sustainable development. Moreover, the obtained results could contribute to a country?s policy-makers by highlighting the essential indicators of a circular economy that should be considered while forming the strategy of a country?s sustainable development.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular economy as assistance for sustainable development in OECD countries

Skvarciany

Lapinskaitė

Volskytė

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At the same time, with regard to trade barriers, the points that have emerged: difficult to source second raw materials, storage, transport costs and big companies' profitability, are not much discussed in the literature, but represent variables that affect the modalities and timing of the transition. In addition, it is interesting to note that even in the presence of important legislative production by the EU, there is a regulatory gap between and within sectors among smes present in the different EU Member States (Marino et al, 2020). This legislative vacuum is evident in the request in the documents analyzed, by the stakeholders for a quality certification of products and productions coming from the use of the second raw material.…”

Section: Discussion and Limits Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Elia et al (2017), Iacovidou et al (2017b), pointed out that the transition is both a complex and composite phenomena. The CE is a strategic objective and therefore a single factor does not explain the transition process (Marino, et al, 2020;Mazzoni, 2020). This analysis may be strategic to comprehend how the SMEs are implementing and should implement actions to boost the transition towards the CE.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transition towards to the circular economy: European SMEs' trajectories

Marino¹,

Pariso²

2021

JESI

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The transition towards to the circular economy of European SMEs' is one of the items on the agenda in Europe. The aim of the paper is evaluate if this drive should transform our SMEs and keep European production sustainable and competitive. The paper presented a comparison analysis on the circular economy SMEs transition in the 13 sectors EU Member States. The study highlights and evaluates the transition in 13 sectors with highest SMEs performance. Five trajectories have been identified and evaluated in order to investigate, the transition degree of each sector towards to the circular economy. The analysis shows a heterogeneous transition with both sectors and Countries in which the presence of best practices, have been realized, but, can not be transfer to other sectors. A series of barriers to the transition from linear to circular economy are composed in the SMEs sectors.

show abstract

“…The concept gained traction in Europe in the early 2010s with the efforts of Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) along with the introduction of the first Circular Economy Action Plan [7,8]. Indeed, many European countries [9], including the Netherlands [10], have developed several strategies and action plans, in which the construction sector takes a pivotal role as one of the main priorities in the transition towards a CE.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Circular Social Housing: An Exploration of Practices, Barriers, and Enablers

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The concept of Circular Economy (CE) and its application in the built environment is an emerging research field. Scholars approach CE from various perspectives covering a wide range of topics from material innovation to city-scale application. However, there is little research on CE implementation in housing stock, particularly that which is managed or owned by the social housing organisations (SHOs) and which offers opportunities to generate circular flows of materials at the portfolio level. This research focuses on Dutch SHOs and uses the Delphi method to examine CE practices in their asset management, as well as the main barriers to and potential enablers of its uptake. The analysis of two iterative rounds of expert questioning indicates that Dutch SHOs are in the early experimental phase in CE implementation. From the results, it is evident that organisational, cultural, and financial barriers are the most pressing ones that hinder the wider adoption of CE in their asset management. Building on the panel input, this study suggests potential enablers to overcome these barriers, such as CE legislation, best practice case studies, commitment and support from the top management, and the creation of a clear business case.

show abstract

Comparing European countries' performances in the transition towards the Circular Economy

Cited by 125 publications

References 17 publications

Circular economy as assistance for sustainable development in OECD countries

Circular economy as assistance for sustainable development in OECD countries

The transition towards to the circular economy: European SMEs' trajectories

Towards Circular Social Housing: An Exploration of Practices, Barriers, and Enablers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About