Cradle to Cradle: Effective Vision vs. Efficient Practice?

Toxopeus, Marten E.; Koeijer, B.L.A. de; Meij, A. G. G. H.

doi:10.1016/j.procir.2015.02.068

Cited by 53 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Yet the second and third principle did not emerge as main coding categories when coding the various definitions, and are thus not further examined in-depth in this paper. 4 Life cycle assessment has emerged as the main tool to judge upon products holistically from a sustainable development perspective (Toxopeus et al, 2015;Neugebauer et al, 2015).…”

Section: Coding Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing the Circular Economy: An Analysis of 114 Definitions

2017

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A B S T R A C TThe circular economy concept has gained momentum both among scholars and practitioners. However, critics claim that it means many different things to different people. This paper provides further evidence for these critics. The aim of this paper is to create transparency regarding the current understandings of the circular economy concept. For this purpose, we have gathered 114 circular economy definitions which were coded on 17 dimensions. Our findings indicate that the circular economy is most frequently depicted as a combination of reduce, reuse and recycle activities, whereas it is oftentimes not highlighted that CE necessitates a systemic shift. We further find that the definitions show few explicit linkages of the circular economy concept to sustainable development. The main aim of the circular economy is considered to be economic prosperity, followed by environmental quality; its impact on social equity and future generations is barely mentioned. Furthermore, neither business models nor consumers are frequently outlined as enablers of the circular economy. We critically discuss the various circular economy conceptualizations throughout this paper. Overall, we hope to contribute via this study towards the coherence of the circular economy concept; we presume that significantly varying circular economy definitions may eventually result in the collapse of the concept.

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Section: Coding Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing the Circular Economy: An Analysis of 114 Definitions

2017

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“…CE is strongly connected to the concept of cradle-to-cradle (C2C), and focuses on eco-effectiveness rather than eco-efficiency, aiming at creating 'cradle-to-cradle' materials flows (Braungart et al, 2007;Ghisellini et al, 2016). Although the capacity of C2C to achieve ecoeffectiveness in practice has been questioned (Toxopeus et al, 2015), what C2C inspires at a conceptual level into CE practitioners is not a call for minimizing material streams but more intelligent design of products and processes in such ways that their constitutive materials maintain their status as productive resources (Braungart et al, 2007). Products and industrial processes are designed in such a way that materials are nutrients in a perpetual flow of either biological or technical metabolisms (Smol et al, 2015).…”

Section: Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: The case of material use in the Dutch textile industry

Fischer

Pascucci

2017

Journal of Cleaner Production

276

150

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a b s t r a c tThe aim of this paper is to gain insight into how requirements for transitioning to circular economy creates new organizational forms in inter-firm collaborations, and ultimately how they stimulate the emergence of new institutions enhancing sustainability. Two strands of literature, one on circular economy and one on institutional analysis, provide the theoretical background for this research. Currently a clearly formulated and unified theory on the institutions of circular economy is lacking. Therefore this research compares and contrasts empirical evidence from cases derived from the textile industry in The Netherlands, and concepts derived from institutional analysis and literature on circular economy to inductively build a cohesive conceptual framework. Using information from cases we identified two pathways to transition into circular economy and to manage circular material flows. We define these pathways Status Quo arrangements (SQ), when firms focus on optimizing up-cycling technologies and infrastructure in their circular relations and collaborations, and Product as Service arrangements (PAS), to indicate a focus on providing products in service contracts. Chain coordination, contracting, and financial mechanisms were identified as key organizational elements for creating new pathways to transition into circular materials flows. However in analyzing these elements we also highlight differences between SQ and PAS arrangements. SQ arrangements may have implications at the level of formal rules, for example by creating a new industry standards for up-cycled fabrics. PAS arrangements may have wider implications, for example by reshaping ownership in service contracts and creating cascading activities. Moving ownership to the supply chain will result in increased responsibility for materials and will create an incentive for improving quality of products, including their environmental performance. This is expected to generate positive socio-environmental impacts at a system level as well. Moreover PAS arrangements may have bottom up effects at a formal institutional level, resulting in alteration and creation of formal rules, for example in terms of new approaches to the ownership of materials.

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“…The C2C certification program was developed as a means to put the C2C vision into practice. Some of the discrepancies between the theory and day-to-day practice of applying C2C in packaging development have been discussed by Toxopeus et al (2015), including its main focus on product optimization rather than innovation. The five C2C categories are considered to be equal with each carrying equal weight in relation the final certification level.…”

Section: Methodological Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the two were to be combined, a detailed inclusion of all intended and non-intended uses of the product should be performed, thereby (widely) extending the scope of LCA, which is usually based on operative conditions of a process or defined use of a product. In the practical implementation of the C2C through the C2C certification program, MH emerged to be by far the most important criterion (Toxopeus et al, 2015). Therefore, this aspect should be further investigated, due to the impact of the lacquer on the recyclability of the can.…”

Section: Limitations Of Our Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Closing the loop for aluminum cans: Life Cycle Assessment of progression in Cradle-to-Cradle certification levels

Niero

Negrelli

Hoffmeyer

et al. 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

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Despite their different scopes, both the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified TM Product Standard can support companies in the implementation of circular economy strategies. Considering the case of aluminium cans, the objectives of this paper are twofold: (i) to compare the environmental impact associated with different levels of two C2C certification requirements by using LCA; and (ii) to identify the main challenges and drawbacks in the combined use of LCA and C2C for packaging within the circular economy framework.Twenty different scenarios were developed and compared, according to three C2C certification levels, in terms of % renewable energy and % recycled content. The results show that increasing the recycled content provides more improvements to environmental impacts than increasing renewable energy usage.Furthermore, receiving a higher certification level does not necessarily mean environmental burden reduction in LCA sense.From a methodological point of view, the main challenge for LCA is to address the continuous loop of materials and account for the benefits from recycling in a consistent way. Meanwhile for C2C the challenge is to guarantee a proper translation of the C2C principles into the C2C certification program, avoiding burden shifting and to find a balance between the different certification requirements. Keywords

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Cradle to Cradle: Effective Vision vs. Efficient Practice?

Cited by 53 publications

References 3 publications

Conceptualizing the Circular Economy: An Analysis of 114 Definitions

Conceptualizing the Circular Economy: An Analysis of 114 Definitions

Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: The case of material use in the Dutch textile industry

Closing the loop for aluminum cans: Life Cycle Assessment of progression in Cradle-to-Cradle certification levels

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