Abstract
This chapter introduces the concept of the circular economy, its connection with sustainable development, and the importance of taking a multi-level perspective. This chapter also presents the objectives and research questions, the logic of the book’s overall structure, the applied research methodology, and the empirical focus. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the originality of the work, the theoretical contributions, and the practical implications.
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Notes
- 1.
European Commission (2020). Circular Economy Action Plan. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en.
- 2.
European Green Deal. https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en.
- 3.
European Industrial Strategy. https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/european-industrial-strategy_en.
- 4.
Circular economy: MEPs call for tighter EU consumption and recycling rules. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210204IPR97114/circular-economy-meps-call-for-tighter-eu-consumption-and-recycling-rules.
- 5.
What is a Circular Economy? https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview.
- 6.
The butterfly diagram: visualising the Circular Economy. https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy-diagram.
- 7.
European Cluster Observatory Report. Priority Sector Report: Circular Economy: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/24681/attachments/3/translations/en/renditions/native.
- 8.
Circular economy Update. Overview of Circular Economy in Europe: https://ecopreneur.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Ecopreneur-Circular-Economy-Update-report-2019.pdf.
- 9.
Value-add created: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/data/database.
- 10.
Number of employees: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/data/database.
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Dagilienė, L., Bruneckienė, J., Varaniūtė, V., Banionienė, J. (2023). Introduction to a Circular Economy. In: Circular Business Models in the Manufacturing Industry. Studies in Energy, Resource and Environmental Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28809-8_1
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