Original title: Principles for a sustainable circular economy
A circular economyAn approach that aims to make better use of resources and reduce waste. aims to use resources better and create less waste. But calling a practice “circular” does not prove it is sustainable; some practices can still harm the environment or society. The authors compare ideas from sustainable developmentDevelopment considered in relation to its lasting effects on people and the natural environment. with principles proposed in circular-economy research. They use that analysis to propose a value framework and ten principles for designing, carrying out, and evaluating a sustainable circular economy.
Imagine sorting things after dinner so less goes in the bin. The tricky part is that reusing something does not automatically make the whole routine good for everyone or the surroundings. In this paper, sorting and reusing stand for circular-economy practices, while checking their wider effects stands for judging whether they are truly sustainable.
Public agencies, businesses, and community groups use circular-economy ideas to reduce waste and make better use of resources. This paper argues that those goals are not enough on their own: a practice also needs to be judged by its effects on people and the environment.
The abstract does not report how the proposed framework or ten principles were tested in practice, or whether they reduce environmental or social harm. It describes an analysis of literature and a proposed framework, alongside calls for practitioner action and further academic research.
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Principles for a sustainable circular economy — Anne P.M. Velenturf, Phil Purnell — Sustainable Production and Consumption — doi:10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.018
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.