Water in Circular Economy and Resilience

Abstract

Broco for their support in developing the case studies that accompany this report; Steven Kennedy for editorial support; Alejandro Scaff for graphic design; Pascal Saura, Erin Ann Barrett, and Fayre Makeig for publication support; and Meriem Gray and Li Lou for their help with communications.Report design was done by Kynda.

An Integrated Assessment Framework for Transition to Water Circularity

“…In addition, as building legitimacy for the circular water technologies is required, insights from the technology legitimation using the institutional work analytical framework of Binz et al [28] were also drawn from. Furthermore, a recent World Bank framework called Water in Circular Economy and Resilience (WICER) is applied to assess whether the proposed circular water technologies meet circularity criteria [5].…”

“…The circular economy (CE) has grabbed the attention of researchers, practitioners, and politicians. By addressing environmental, social, and economic sustainability jointly, CE is fully aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda [5]. CE was promoted because practitioners and scholars understand the high vulnerability of linear systems to lower availability of resource inputs, higher resource prices, and limited access to resources, and acknowledge the need for a model that separates development from resource consumption [7].…”

“…Applying the CE principles provides a systematic approach to solving water challenges and sustaining water services [5,10]. Water systems intersect with society, industries, and agriculture, and in these intersections lie the opportunities to create or unlock additional value for water by applying the CE principles [11].…”

“…The increasing risk of water crises can hinder nations' sustainable socio-economic development goals, as water contributes to almost every sustainable development goal (SDG) [5]. Thus, there is a dire need to shift from the short-sighted and unsustainable linear management approach (take-use-discharge) to more circularity [1].…”

Informal Waste Recycling Economies in the Global South and the Chimera of Green Capitalism

“…Interest in the (re)conceptualisation of waste as a resource is growing given the enormous economic potential of waste recycling and material recovery (see PACE 2019), as well as the added environmental benefits. Transnational actors promoting a green and circular agenda (through funding, research, and international cooperation) include the European Union (2020), the European Commission (2015Commission ( , 2020, the OECD (2020), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP 2011(UNEP , 2015, the World Bank (2019;Delgado et al 2021), the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2013), and the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE 2021). Circular economy principles that extend the material lifecycle through the promotion of practices of reuse, repair, recovery, recycle are today shaping cooperation between countries in the global North and South where it aims to deliver greener pathways to sustainable economic development, and poverty alleviation.…”