30/10/2017
Barriers & Drivers towards a Circular Economy: Literature Review
- Freek van Eijk, Managing Director Acceleratio, March 2015
The transition to a circular economy requires a systemic approach which makes use of a wide toolkit of policies and measures, across different points of value changes and affecting the full set of private and public stakeholders.
The circular economy is rapidly rising up political and business agendas. In contrast to today’s largely linear, ‘take-make-use-dispose’ economy, a circular economy aims to decouple economic growth from the use of natural resources and ecosystems by using those resources more effectively. By definition it is a driver for innovation in the areas of material-, component- and product reuse, as well as new business models such as solutions and services. In a circular economy, the more effective use of materials enables to create more value, both by cost savings and by developing new markets or growing existing ones
The circular economy requires a system change.
Today we experience rapid change in our society. We are not in an era of change but in the change of an era. Our present set of regulation, aimed to protect consumers, companies and environment, has been drafted in the past and is by definition outdated. “We are looking with old spectacles to new initiatives”. We tend to be late and reactive in our adjustments of regulation which is frustrating new initiatives.
A deep transformation of production chains and consumption patterns and a shift in financial, fiscal and reporting instruments is envisaged to keep materials circulating in the economy for longer, re-designing industrial systems and encouraging cascading use of materials and waste. Some elements of circularity in the linear economy, such as recycling and composting need to be maintained. But a circular economy goes far beyond the pursuit of waste prevention and waste reduction to inspire technological, organisational and social innovation across and within value chains.
From the combined studies included in this review a picture comes forward that a Circular Economy demands a system change with parallel actions along the value chain rather than a purely sector and/or product focused approach. It requires actions in not only the regulatory field but also requires institutional changes, cultural changes, technological innovation and knowledge development & exchange just as closer cooperation and transparency between all actors (governments, businesses, Barriers & Drivers towards a Circular Economy A-140315-R-Final 4 Barriers towards a Circular Economy, November 2014 inhabitants and the science & education community).
In other words there is a need for a mix of complementary instruments and approaches across different parts of the circular economy (e.g. regulatory measures complemented by economic incentives to ensure pricing of a related product or resource, funding for innovation etc.) and efforts to engage and link actors along the value chain (to ensure circular thinking and identification of opportunities for greater circularity across the entire chain).
The present regulatory system is pre-dominantly sectorial and has a one sided orientation on risks. This hampers new opportunities. In many circular economy business cases perceived environmental risks will have to be balanced against the new economic opportunities. That could also be interpreted as a call not for more regulation but for better regulation and even a call for deregulation: less detailed and specific regulation and more performance based regulation. A Circular Economy also needs room for experimentation within the boundary conditions set by the government. This asks for courage of our regulators
Continues - https://wp.me/p1zD54-10Q
