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What Is in a Name? The Rising Star of the Circular Economy as a Resource-Related Concept for Sustainable Development

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Abstract

The most popular definition of sustainable development, which can be found in the Brundtland Report, sets an ideal goal but do not provide a clear direction for the implementation of sustainable solutions. Other related concepts and approaches have emerged as means to progress towards sustainability in a more pragmatic way, such as the circular economy. The circular economy has risen to prominence at a rate and on a scale to rival the idea of sustainable development itself. This is despite the fact that there is relatively little about the circular economy that is entirely original—it draws heavily on precursor concepts such as industrial ecology and industrial symbiosis. These ideas have received renewed impetus even whilst being eclipsed in both academic and policies debates. In order to address this paradox and help establish the identity and contribution of these fields, this article presents the concepts of circular economy, industrial symbiosis and sustainable development, summarizing their complex and often intertwined evolutionary paths, focusing on relevant developments and implementation challenges. In addition, the authors point out the divergences and interrelations of these concepts and link them to other adjacent concepts and research fields, such as ecological modernisation and the green economy. Additionally, the potential contribution of industrial symbiosis and the circular economy to sustainable development and to the Sustainable Development Goals set in the United Nations Agenda 2030 is briefly discussed.

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Notes

  1. Many authors—such as [49, 80, 81]—pointed out that there are three perspectives in the implementation of CE strategies:

    • The macro level perspective aims to adjust the global and/or national economy structure promoting sustainable production and consumption activities through efforts in designing and implementing proper public policies;

    • The meso level perspective refers to closing resource loops mainly developing industrial symbiosis initiatives and eco-industrial parks;

    • The micro level perspective focuses on products, companies and consumers.

    Some authors identify a fourth level of circularity—e.g. [82, 83]—the nano level, proposing it as the lowest level of analysis possible referred to products and components, while at the micro level refers to companies and consumers.

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This paper was partially supported by EPSRC grant EP/S025537/1 to the University of Hull: ‘Evolving a circular plastics economy’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA

    Andrea Cecchin

  2. Department of Earth System Science & Policy, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, USA

    Andrea Cecchin

  3. Department of Economics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Roberta Salomone

  4. Department of Geography, Geology and Environment, University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Pauline Deutz

  5. Department of Economic Studies, University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy

    Andrea Raggi

  6. Department for sustainability, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Rome, Italy

    Laura Cutaia

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  1. Andrea Cecchin
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Correspondence to Andrea Cecchin.

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Cecchin, A., Salomone, R., Deutz, P. et al. What Is in a Name? The Rising Star of the Circular Economy as a Resource-Related Concept for Sustainable Development. Circ.Econ.Sust. 1, 83–97 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00021-4

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