Kris Hartley, Assistant Professor, School of Sustainability in the College of Global Futures, is co-author on Is circular economy a failing sustainability paradigm? Not necessarily, a new publication in Journal of Industrial Ecology.
Says Hartley: "It is prudent to reflect on the success of CE as a driver of sustainability, particularly as CE success narratives can serve political and corporate interests and impact public support. In this article, we consider the roles of the private sector, government, consumers, and academia in considering whether the CE concept has fulfilled its promise. We conclude with broader reflections about incremental versus transformational progress, maintaining that, amidst the critiques, CE is advancing in metrics that are consistent with its fundamentally incremental nature."
A brief summary follows: Sluggish progress on circular economy (CE) implementation is raising some concern that this allegedly new paradigm for sustainability is failing. While initial optimism had anticipated faster progress, actors across the private sector, government, consumer markets, and academia are embracing CE with varying speed and commitment. Circular principles are included in policy documents and corporate reports, and the circular start-up and scale-up realms are growing. Consumer awareness also appears to be rising, and a vibrant academic literature has emerged. We examine the roles of stakeholders in CE transition and pathways to acceleration and argue that the incrementalism often cited as a failure of CE is a fundamental characteristic of the paradigm; this notion forecloses the possibility of transformational change but supports an optimistic narrative. The characteristic of incrementalism makes CE progress metrics easier to measure and communicate, and we argue that, from this perspective, CE is making more progress than many critics suggest. This article elaborates on these points and argues for a more critical and provocative discourse around CE.