Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy

Sina Leipold; Anna Petit‐Boix; Anran Luo; Hanna Helander; Machteld Simoens; Weslynne S. Ashton; Callie W. Babbitt; Alba Bala; Catharina R. Bening; Morten Birkved; Fenna Blomsma; Casper Boks; Alessio Boldrin; Pauline Deutz; Teresa Domenech; Navarro Ferronato; Alejandro Gallego‐Schmid; Damien Giurco; Kersty Hobson; Roope Husgafvel; Cynthia Isenhour; Mait Kriipsalu; Donato Masi; Joan Manuel F. Mendoza; Leonidas Milios; Monia Niero; Deepak Pant; Keshav Parajuly; Stefan Pauliuk; Marina P. P. Pieroni; Jessika Luth Richter; Michael Saidani; Marzena Smol; Laura Talens Peiró; Stijn van Ewijk; Walter J. V. Vermeulen; Dominik Wiedenhofer; Bing Xue

doi:10.1111/jiec.13346

Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy

Sina Leipold, Anna Petit‐Boix, Anran Luo, Hanna Helander, Machteld Simoens, Weslynne S. Ashton, Callie W. Babbitt, Alba Bala, Catharina R. Bening, Morten Birkved, Fenna Blomsma, Casper Boks, Alessio Boldrin, Pauline Deutz, Teresa Domenech, Navarro Ferronato, Alejandro Gallego‐Schmid, Damien Giurco, Kersty Hobson, Roope HusgafvelCynthia Isenhour, Mait Kriipsalu, Donato Masi, Joan Manuel F. Mendoza, Leonidas Milios, Monia Niero, Deepak Pant, Keshav Parajuly, Stefan Pauliuk, Marina P. P. Pieroni, Jessika Luth Richter, Michael Saidani, Marzena Smol, Laura Talens Peiró, Stijn van Ewijk, Walter J. V. Vermeulen, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Bing Xue

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	6-18
Journal	Journal of Industrial Ecology
Volume	27
Issue number	1
Early online date	27 Dec 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13346
Publication status	Published - Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Industrial Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Industrial Ecology.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/], which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Acknowledgements & Funding: The authors would like to thank all experts participating in the initial survey. They authors also express their gratitude for the financial support of this research by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, research group ‘Circulus – Opportunities and challenges of transition to a sustainable circular bio-economy’ [031B0018], the European Research Council Horizon 2020 programme (MAT_STOCKS, grant agreement No 741950), and the Horizon Europe programme (CircEUlar, grant agreement No 101056810).

Keywords

sustainability
science policy
narratives
policy relevance
research agenda
industrial ecology

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10.1111/jiec.13346Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Leipoldetal_2023_VoR
Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Industrial Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Industrial Ecology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/], which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Final published version, 690 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cite this

Leipold, S., Petit‐Boix, A., Luo, A., Helander, H., Simoens, M., Ashton, W. S., Babbitt, C. W., Bala, A., Bening, C. R., Birkved, M., Blomsma, F., Boks, C., Boldrin, A., Deutz, P., Domenech, T., Ferronato, N., Gallego‐Schmid, A., Giurco, D., Hobson, K., ... Xue, B. (2023). Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 27(1), 6-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13346

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title = "Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy",

abstract = "The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars{\textquoteright} insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.",

keywords = "sustainability, science policy, narratives, policy relevance, research agenda, industrial ecology",

author = "Sina Leipold and Anna Petit‐Boix and Anran Luo and Hanna Helander and Machteld Simoens and Ashton, {Weslynne S.} and Babbitt, {Callie W.} and Alba Bala and Bening, {Catharina R.} and Morten Birkved and Fenna Blomsma and Casper Boks and Alessio Boldrin and Pauline Deutz and Teresa Domenech and Navarro Ferronato and Alejandro Gallego‐Schmid and Damien Giurco and Kersty Hobson and Roope Husgafvel and Cynthia Isenhour and Mait Kriipsalu and Donato Masi and Mendoza, {Joan Manuel F.} and Leonidas Milios and Monia Niero and Deepak Pant and Keshav Parajuly and Stefan Pauliuk and Pieroni, {Marina P. P.} and Richter, {Jessika Luth} and Michael Saidani and Marzena Smol and Peir{\'o}, {Laura Talens} and {van Ewijk}, Stijn and Vermeulen, {Walter J. V.} and Dominik Wiedenhofer and Bing Xue",

note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Journal of Industrial Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Industrial Ecology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/], which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. Acknowledgements & Funding: The authors would like to thank all experts participating in the initial survey. They authors also express their gratitude for the financial support of this research by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, research group {\textquoteleft}Circulus – Opportunities and challenges of transition to a sustainable circular bio-economy{\textquoteright} [031B0018], the European Research Council Horizon 2020 programme (MAT_STOCKS, grant agreement No 741950), and the Horizon Europe programme (CircEUlar, grant agreement No 101056810).",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1111/jiec.13346",

language = "English",

volume = "27",

pages = "6--18",

journal = "Journal of Industrial Ecology",

issn = "1088-1980",

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Leipold, S, Petit‐Boix, A, Luo, A, Helander, H, Simoens, M, Ashton, WS, Babbitt, CW, Bala, A, Bening, CR, Birkved, M, Blomsma, F, Boks, C, Boldrin, A, Deutz, P, Domenech, T, Ferronato, N, Gallego‐Schmid, A, Giurco, D, Hobson, K, Husgafvel, R, Isenhour, C, Kriipsalu, M, Masi, D, Mendoza, JMF, Milios, L, Niero, M, Pant, D, Parajuly, K, Pauliuk, S, Pieroni, MPP, Richter, JL, Saidani, M, Smol, M, Peiró, LT, van Ewijk, S, Vermeulen, WJV, Wiedenhofer, D & Xue, B 2023, 'Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy', Journal of Industrial Ecology, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 6-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13346

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T1 - Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy

AU - Leipold, Sina

AU - Petit‐Boix, Anna

AU - Luo, Anran

AU - Helander, Hanna

AU - Simoens, Machteld

AU - Ashton, Weslynne S.

AU - Babbitt, Callie W.

AU - Bala, Alba

AU - Bening, Catharina R.

AU - Birkved, Morten

AU - Blomsma, Fenna

AU - Boks, Casper

AU - Boldrin, Alessio

AU - Deutz, Pauline

AU - Domenech, Teresa

AU - Ferronato, Navarro

AU - Gallego‐Schmid, Alejandro

AU - Giurco, Damien

AU - Hobson, Kersty

AU - Husgafvel, Roope

AU - Isenhour, Cynthia

AU - Kriipsalu, Mait

AU - Masi, Donato

AU - Mendoza, Joan Manuel F.

AU - Milios, Leonidas

AU - Niero, Monia

AU - Pant, Deepak

AU - Parajuly, Keshav

AU - Pauliuk, Stefan

AU - Pieroni, Marina P. P.

AU - Richter, Jessika Luth

AU - Saidani, Michael

AU - Smol, Marzena

AU - Peiró, Laura Talens

AU - van Ewijk, Stijn

AU - Vermeulen, Walter J. V.

AU - Wiedenhofer, Dominik

AU - Xue, Bing

N1 - Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Industrial Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Industrial Ecology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/], which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. Acknowledgements & Funding: The authors would like to thank all experts participating in the initial survey. They authors also express their gratitude for the financial support of this research by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, research group ‘Circulus – Opportunities and challenges of transition to a sustainable circular bio-economy’ [031B0018], the European Research Council Horizon 2020 programme (MAT_STOCKS, grant agreement No 741950), and the Horizon Europe programme (CircEUlar, grant agreement No 101056810).

PY - 2023/2

Y1 - 2023/2

N2 - The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

AB - The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

KW - sustainability

KW - science policy

KW - narratives

KW - policy relevance

KW - research agenda

KW - industrial ecology

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DO - 10.1111/jiec.13346

M3 - Article

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SP - 6

EP - 18

JO - Journal of Industrial Ecology

JF - Journal of Industrial Ecology

IS - 1

ER -

Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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