Introduction
With the current path of global population growth and expansion of consumption and production, the resource availability and resilience of the Earth Systems are under threat. Transformative changes require transformative ideas and innovative thinking. Given the overwhelming evidence provided by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014), the international impetus of Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) and the Paris Agreement, public, private and third sector parties need to transform and adapt to sustainable development goals (SDGs). In recent studies, Bali Swain and Ranganathan (2020), Bali Swain (2018), Ranganathan and Bali Swain (2018), Spaiser, Ranganathan, Bali Swain, and Sumpter (2016), and UNSD (2020) provide empirical evidence that SDGs are conflicting, interlinked with trade-offs and synergies, and sometimes contradictory. These interlinkages imply that a number of technological, social and economic interrelationships on the individual and system levels have to be addressed to achieve SDGs. Goals on sustainable consumption and production (SDG12) are related to circular economy (CE) approaches, such as 12.2, achieving the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources; 12.3 and 12.5 substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
In this chapter, we present an introduction to sustainable consumption and production through circular economy. Circular economy is an approach to reduce material and resource use; prolong life of products by reuse, repairing, refurbishing or remanufacturing and; at the end of a productâs life, recycle the material and put it into productive use again.
CE and sustainable development are also closely related concepts (Pauliuk, 2018). Some researchers argue that CE succeeds sustainable development as sustainable development is based on linear thinking strategies (Sauve, Bernard, & Sloan, 2016). Others argue that sustainability is a broader concept as CE is an instrument to operationalize sustainable development principles (Kirchherr, Reike, & Hekkert, 2017; Kopnina & Blewitt, 2014). Still others suggest that CE is not a comprehensive model of sustainable development and addresses only a subset of SDGs (Schröder, Anggraeni, & Weber, 2018). Sustainability aims to integrate the environmental, economic and social dimensions, whereas, CE concentrates on environmental issues and is set within the industrial context (DâAmato et al., 2017; Sauve et al., 2016). Geissdoerfer, Savaget, Bocken, and Hultink (2017) is one of the few studies that focus on the social issues and the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development.
Circular Economy
CE is not a new concept. People in different historical periods recycled and reused, and it was driven by technological, societal, cultural, political, economic and religious circumstances. During medieval times, production was labour intensive, and the waste was used to produce other items. To be responsible and take care of belongings and materials was promoted as positive behaviour with religious significance. The Industrial Revolution period between 1750 and 1850 deterred recycling and reuse through the boom in mass production (Stobart, Hann, & Morgan, 2007; Stobart & Van Damme, 2010). The shift from small scale to mass production, with improvements in transportation resulted in greater volumes and lower prices for consumers. The World Wars, however, resulted in resource scarcity, and thus promoted reuse and recycling. Disruptions in supply chains led to schemes to recycle metal, paper and textiles. In addition to manufacturing limits on the volume of new clothing and household items, new âutilityâ designs were introduced to conserve the raw materials. Necessity, and indeed legislation, therefore encouraged recycling and reuse.
Pearce and Turner (1990) were the first to use the term CE, but it was Boulding (1966), who discussed the closed system to emphasize the limited natural resources available for human activities. CE is an umbrella concept with its origin in industrial ecology, environmental science and ecological economic, and does not have well-defined boundaries with concepts such as Green Economy and Bioeconomy (Blomsma & Brennan, 2017; DâAmato et al., 2017; Korhonen, Honkasalo, & SeppĂ€lĂ€, 2018; Lazarevic & Valve, 2016; Merli, Preziosi, & Compora, 2018). It also has strong roots in ideas related to cradle-to-cradle design (Braungart & McDonough, 2002) and natural capitalism (Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins, 1999). Bioeconomy also plays the critical role of biological engine of CE, concentrating on the renewability of material end energy in closed loops (European Commission, 2015).
The European Commissionâs circular economy action plan adopted by the EU in 2015,
defines circular economy as:
âŠan economy [that] aims to maintain the value of products, materials and resources for as long as possible by returning them into the product cycle at the end of their use, while minimising the generation of waste.
This process starts at the very beginning of a productâs lifecycle: smart product design and production processes can help save resources, avoid inefficient waste management, and create new business opportunities (European Commission, 2015, 2019).
CE is thus an evolving concept and there is no consensus or commonly accepted definition of CE (Kirchherr et al., 2017; Rizos, Tuokko, & Behrens, 2017; Yuan, Bi, & Moriguichi, 2006). One currently prominent approach to address the sustainable challenges connected to consumption and production is to close material loops using CE approaches. CE principles are driving to overcome the challenges of todayâs linear take-make-dispose production and consumption patterns through keeping the value of products, materials and resources circulating in the economy as long as possible (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2012, 2015; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017; Haas, Krausmann, Wiedenhofer, & Heinz, 2015; Kirchherr et al., 2017; Merli et al., 2018).
Consequently, a transition towards CE will impact whole systems of provision of products and services (Checkland, 2000). For example, by working with CE principles, (a) manufacturers need to implement Circular Manufacturing Systems (CMS), including designing products which should last significantly longer and be designed for easy repair, refurbishing and remanufacturing; (b) consumers and households need to adapt to different consumption patterns and business models, such as sharing, renting or service models; and (c) at a societal level, policies and infrastructure for waste management, supporting pricing, taxation and fee models, education and communication etc., need to be implemented. Thus, CE is an approach that is characterized by planned organization and governance for regenerative and restorative systems of consumption and production to propagate inclusive and equitable societal prosperity by maintaining the value of resources, materials and products, and avoiding wastage.
With its origin in the field of industrial ecology, CE developed into an independent concept connected to environmental sustainability, mostly employing tools and methods for modelling processes and supporting decision-making for CE implementationâfor example, using Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis. In a systematic analysis of CE literature, Merli et al. (2018) broadly identify three approaches at the macro, micro and meso level. The first set of literature focuses on the changes in social and economic dynamics at the macro and administrative level. The second set of literature focuses on the implementation of circular processes at the firm or micro level. The remaining literature addresses industrial symbiosis experiences at the meso level.
The CE literature on the macro level is focused on the...
