Introducing Ideas of a Circular Economy

Pitt, James; Heinemeyer, Catherine

doi:10.1007/978-94-6209-938-8_16

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In line with the “health of ecosystems,” other authors (e.g., Pauliuk, ; Pitt & Heinemeyer, ; Rhodes, ) interpret regeneration as creating better conditions to support the life‐enhancing qualities of ecosystems. However, “better conditions” is an ambiguous expression absent a baseline (i.e., a detailed state in a previous point in time) and measurement of improvements against that baseline.…”

Section: Restoration and Regeneration In Technical And Biological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Restoration in the CE literature is associated primarily with a need to restore to natural capital (e.g., Bastein, Roelofs, Rietveld, & Hoogendoorn, ; EMF, ,b; Howard, Hopkinson, & Miemczyk, ; Linder, ; Pauliuk, ; Pitt & Heinemeyer, . The notion of natural capital was popularized by Hawken and colleagues () to include natural resources used by humankind and the totality of living systems.…”

Section: Restoration and Regeneration In Technical And Biological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The notion of natural capital was popularized by Hawken and colleagues () to include natural resources used by humankind and the totality of living systems. Nature is identified as a store of capital to be maintained rather than a resource to be plundered (Pitt & Heinemeyer, ). In that context, the economy needs to be restorative and restoration occurs through rebuilding of natural capital.…”

Section: Restoration and Regeneration In Technical And Biological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

Morseletto

2020

J of Industrial Ecology

204

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The most recognized definition of the circular economy is that it is a restorative and regenerative economy. Despite the wide use and importance attributed to the concepts of "restoration" and "regeneration," they are rarely defined or explained in the circular economy literature. In this context, this study critically examines the two terms, while providing guidance on their future utilization and development. Specifically, the study investigates the origin of the concepts, their adoption in frameworks that anticipated the idea of the circular economy, and their connotations in the circular economy literature. The examination supports the need for clear and distinct definitions, combined with precision in usage. From a review of the literature, restoration is a better-defined concept than regeneration, although it needs conceptual re-enforcement relative to the biological/ecological aspects of the circular economy. This study suggests looking in the direction of restoration ecology, a well-established branch of ecological research. Conversely, regeneration is a symbolic/evocative term with little practical application in the context of circular systems except in the case of certain agricultural practices. Until new conceptual developments intervene, regeneration does not seem to be applicable to the economy as a whole and because of this, might be abandoned as a guiding principle of the circular economy. Unlike regeneration, restoration can be considered a core principle because it has widespread application and can be a point of reference for circular applications. This does not preclude the possibility that other concepts may be needed to augment restoration. K E Y W O R D S biological and technical cycles, circular economy, circular economy guiding principles, industrial ecology, restorative and regenerative concepts 1 INTRODUCTION In 2012, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) introduced the concept of a circular economy (CE) as "an industrial economy that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design" (EMF, 2013, 7), and later as "restorative and regenerative by design and aims" (EMF, 2015a, 2). Since then, the definition of the CE as restorative and regenerative has come into common use, or at least has reverberated thousands of times throughout both academic and non-academic literature. This definition is by far the most employed one in CE studies (Kirchherr, Reike, & Hekkert, 2017). To give a flavor of this, up to the end of 2019, Google Scholar counts over 700 entries for the combination of "circular economy" and "restorative and regenerative" and almost 400 for "circular economy" and "restorative or regenerative." The majority of quotations are verbatim from EMF sources, although some authors provide a modified or slightly expanded version of the EMF definition (e.g.

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Section: Restoration and Regeneration In Technical And Biological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Restoration and Regeneration In Technical And Biological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Restoration and Regeneration In Technical And Biological Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

Morseletto

2020

J of Industrial Ecology

204

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“…This study considers that as a new economic development mode, CE must restructure and upgrade the economic system in accordance with the law of material circulation and energy flow in the natural ecological system. Moreover, CE must explore the new style of economic increase to synchronise the growth of economic and environmental benefits and extend the use cycle and use of resources to achieve sustainable development (Ghisellini, Cialani, & Ulgiati, 2016;Pitt, & Heinemeyer, 2015;Preston, 2012).…”

Section: Definition Of Circular Economy (Ce)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy Model for Recycling Waste Resources Under Government Participation: A Case Study in Industrial Waste Water Circulation in China

Shen

Lin

Wang

2019

Technological and Economic Development of Economy

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A circular economy (CE) is proposed to mitigate resource shortage and environmental pollution. Given the inevitable conflict between the new development mode and traditional economic benefits, practical experience shows that CE implementation needs the support of outside forces, such as government policy interventions or environmental organisations’ propaganda guidance. On the basis of existing studies, the present work establishes a systematic economic model in accordance with the characteristics, objectives and principles of CE. The equilibrium solution and critical condition of government and non-government participation models are obtained through game analysis. We select the industrial waste water circulation of some provinces in China to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model. Overall, our results indicate that the gap between the critical price and unit processing cost determines the promotion of CE and government intervention. Moreover, government intervention is critical to building a waste management department in its early stage.

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“…Broadly speaking, it proposes the adoption of a more holistic and dynamic approach and a less reductionist worldview, and promotes the capturing of overall effects of the food system(Ramage & Shipp 2009; Meadow 2009;Haas et al 2016; EMF 2015). And some researches have pinpointed systems thinking as the 'core' or one of the 'origins' of circular economy and LCA(Pitt & Heinemeyer 2015;WRF 2014;Frostell 2013). Systems thinking also encompasses all the operating scopes ranging from single participants, multiple participants, to value chains, global economy and the whole society, as it is a philosophy that can be used to give directions to activities on multiple scopes (EMF 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards better circular economy and life cycle assessment through systems thinking and examining the interrelationships among sustainability, food systems and diet

Lu¹

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Introducing Ideas of a Circular Economy

Cited by 25 publications

References 3 publications

Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

Circular Economy Model for Recycling Waste Resources Under Government Participation: A Case Study in Industrial Waste Water Circulation in China

Towards better circular economy and life cycle assessment through systems thinking and examining the interrelationships among sustainability, food systems and diet

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