Original title: Circular economy – From review of theories and practices to development of implementation tools
A circular economyAn approach to economic activity that aims to keep products and materials in use instead of letting them become waste. aims to keep products and materials in use rather than treating them as waste. This paper reviews different ways to describe that idea, then builds two tools: one lists 45 strategies, and the other gathers more than 100 case studies. The cases are sorted by their scope, which parts of the value chainThe connected stages involved in making, moving, using, and recovering a product. they involve, the strategy used, and how far it has been put into practice. The review finds that recycling and use appear often, while manufacturing and distribution appear less often.
When you pack for a trip, you try to use what you already have and avoid throwing useful things away. It is easy to focus on sorting leftovers, while forgetting how the food was bought, moved, or prepared in the first place. In this paper, the packing stages stand for parts of a product’s journey, and the lists of ideas and examples help show where people are already reducing waste and where they are not.
Businesses and planners looking to use fewer resources need ways to find and design circular-economy projects. The paper organizes strategies and real-world cases, and shows that existing work often leaves parts of the value chain out.
The abstract describes databases and an analysis of existing cases, but does not establish that the tools lead to better outcomes when used. The cases mainly cover selected products, materials, and sectors; economy-wide system change is rarely suggested. The abstract also gives no details about how the cases were selected or how the monitoring methods were assessed.
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Circular economy – From review of theories and practices to development of implementation tools — Yuliya Kalmykova, Madumita Sadagopan, Leonardo Rosado — Resources Conservation and Recycling — doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.10.034
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.