Sustainability and the circular economy: A theoretical approach focused on e-waste urban mining

Xavier, Lúcia Helena; Giese, Ellen Cristine; Ribeiro-Duthie, Ana Cristina; Lins, Fernando Antonio Freitas

doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101467

Cited by 123 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…The IRR [21] together with the information from local recycling cooperatives and the NGO allied to the recyclers' sector detail the socioeconomic reality of waste pickers. There are quite a few studies on this topic stemming from Latin America [40,[60][61][62][63]. So far, however, there are no scientific studies regarding the contribution of urban mining to the reduction of emissions in Ecuador.…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Waste Recycling as Part of Circular Economy. The Case of Cuenca (Ecuador)

2020

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Urban mining by recyclers represents a positive environmental impact as well as being part of the waste management chain. This paper analyzes the contribution of waste pickers in the city of Cuenca in Ecuador and the conditions of their activity. This research has a two-fold objective. First, it calculates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the substitution of virgin raw material in the production process by using recycled urban waste. The second objective is to conduct a socioeconomic analysis of the workers involved in the urban waste sector. Cuenca (Ecuador) is the main city used for this case study, thanks to the accessibility of a rich database built from the survey conducted by the NGO Alliance for Development. The information contained in this survey facilitates the identification of potential consumers of the waste industry. This study uses Clean Development Mechanism methodology. Finally, this work proposes a theoretical model for solid waste management, applied to the city, following the principles of the circular economy.

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Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Waste Recycling as Part of Circular Economy. The Case of Cuenca (Ecuador)

2020

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“…This concept also has the principle of reducing waste, reusing the components (materials) while generating money, those are called by a circular economy. Reuse and recirculation products and materials are the basis of the circular economy concept ( Xavier et al., 2019 ; Pagliaro and Meneguzzo, 2019 ). The ability of informal businesses to reduce basic resources consumptions and exploit natural resources, while creating job opportunities to be considered as part of SRL scorecards.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable reverse logistics scorecards for the performance measurement of informal e-waste businesses

Maheswari

Yudoko

Adhiutama

et al. 2020

Heliyon

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Many countries depend on businesses in reverse chains to tackle the environmental pollution caused by the tremendous amount of e-waste. Furthermore, due to the domination of informal businesses in many developing countries, environmental rules are not considered during operation, and these violations tend to affect public health adversely. The government in these developing countries finds it difficult to manage and utilize e-waste due to insufficient resources properly. The existing performance measures are only appropriate for implementation in developed countries with the inability to assess informal e-waste businesses in developing countries. Therefore, to address this gap, this research proposes sustainable reverse logistics scorecards (SRLS) to identify informal e-waste businesses' performance. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with eleven experts, questionnaire survey with one hundred eighty-six informal e-waste businesses in Indonesia using the snowball sampling method and by measurement identification using the statistical descriptive analysis such as mean, geometric mean, mode, and sign-test median including experts' confirmation. The results showed that there are twenty-two parameters from six perspectives namely financial, stakeholders' value, internal business processes, innovation and growth, environment, and social. These parameters can be used as a performance measurement following government regulation and adjusting the motivation, strategy, capability, and activities of informal e-waste businesses. They are also useful for practical assessment and decision purposes, such as process safety and economic impact evaluation of businesses with the ability to create job opportunities, satisfy employees, and provide persuasive incentives. The balance between environment, welfare, and e-waste management is realized through SRLS. We suggested that other researchers use these parameters to assess the performance of informal e-waste throughout Indonesia and the government considered these parameters to assess them before deciding to collaborate for handling e-waste problems.

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“…Some researchers have emphasized the need for new business models that facilitate the transition from open production systems to closed systems focused on product eco-design that reuses resources and reduces energy [12,31]. Other researchers have affirmed that any circular model must point to three dimensions of impact-environmental, economic, and social [18,32]. Kirchherr et al [33] demonstrated that CE can be implemented on the micro-level (i.e., products, companies, consumers), meso-level (i.e., eco-industrial parks), or macro-level (i.e., city, region, nation) to achieve sustainable development to create environmental quality, economic prosperity, and social equity for the benefit of current and future generations.…”

Section: Ce In the Electrical And Electronics Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To prove this, the authors conducted a literature review in the SCOPUS database during Autumn 2020 using three keywords-"circular economy," "e-waste," and "electronic waste"-and then filtered the 14,707 resulting documents based on their focus on Latin America and/or Mexico. The final results returned just six publications: three focused on Mexico [9,12,17], two in Brazil [18,19] and one in the Caribbean Islands (viz. Aruba, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago) [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy in Mexico’s Electronic and Cell Phone Industry: Recent Evidence of Consumer Behavior

et al. 2020

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Circular Economy (CE) models are increasingly referenced in international fora and on many countries’ climate action agendas. This emphasis is associated with the international environmental and climate crisis. The case of the electronics industry remains particularly relevant, given its background in the use of CE models and its potential to enhance their use. This work focuses on consumer behavior regarding electronics products in Mexico. This is a largely under-researched topic not only in Mexico but also in Latin America. This study demonstrates that, by trying to extend the lifespan of their electronic products, consumers have awareness of product circularity. However, there is a lack of incentives to capitalize on this consumer interest, compounded by the limited participation of manufacturers and distributors. It is concluded that with a well-designed public policy, the electronics industry (including the mobile phone sector) in Mexico can move toward a CE model more rapidly. A stronger initiative for CE by design should be part of these policies, not only in Mexico but also internationally. The role of better eco-labelling in promoting consumers’ environmental awareness is essential. The lessons of this case study might be of interest to other countries as well.

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Sustainability and the circular economy: A theoretical approach focused on e-waste urban mining

Cited by 123 publications

References 56 publications

Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Waste Recycling as Part of Circular Economy. The Case of Cuenca (Ecuador)

Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Waste Recycling as Part of Circular Economy. The Case of Cuenca (Ecuador)

Sustainable reverse logistics scorecards for the performance measurement of informal e-waste businesses

Circular Economy in Mexico’s Electronic and Cell Phone Industry: Recent Evidence of Consumer Behavior

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