Circular economy and sustainability最新文献

{"title":"Circular Economy Transition in an Emerging Economy: Current Status and Priorities in Peru.","authors":"Alejandro Gallego-Schmid, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra, Alvaro Elorrieta-Mendoza, Denisse Milagros Paredes Cotohuanca, Claudia E Henninger, Ana Belén Guerrero","doi":"10.1007/s43615-026-00791-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-026-00791-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The circular economy is increasingly recognised as a multidimensional paradigm that goes beyond reducing waste and recycling, encompassing systemic design, regenerative practices, socio-technical innovation, and equity considerations. This study examines Peru's efforts to transition towards circularity as a representative emerging economy in Latin America, based on 15 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from academia, policymaking, business, and non-governmental organisations. It provides new empirical insights by identifying context-specific drivers and barriers not previously reported in the literature. The analysis identifies barriers such as limited consumer awareness, weak enforcement of regulations, technological gaps, and financial constraints affecting especially micro, small, and medium enterprises. Drivers and strengths include international cooperation, biodiversity, ancestral knowledge, and emerging policies. The government, European agencies, and civil society emerge as central actors in this transition. Conceptually, the study offers a novel contribution by adapting Schlossberg's transition theory, traditionally applied in psychology and education, to the field of sustainability. Findings emphasise the need to raise awareness, foster a cross-sectoral and decentralised regulatory framework with clear responsibilities, enforcement, and accountability mechanisms, promote targeted investments, and design policies that integrate informal sectors. This research contributes to both theory and practice: methodologically by extending transition theory to sustainability studies, and empirically by providing the first multi-stakeholder analysis of CE in Peru, offering insights for policymakers seeking to balance environmental and economic goals.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43615-026-00791-9.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"6 2","pages":"67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12953262/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147357698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perspectives on influential factors for the adoption of circular economy practices.","authors":"Cleber J C Dutra","doi":"10.1007/s43615-026-01061-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-026-01061-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aims at contributing to improve understandings of influences that factors may exert on processes of adoption of circular economy (CE) practices by diverse types of organisations. Its propositions offer perspectives structured from categories identified as suitably grouping these factors. Each category characterises areas of influence, according to kinds of contribution, impact, or effect their factors exert. Seen from analytical dimensions used for the typification, the categories also characterise levels and fields, expanding the capacity for understanding their influence through dimensional meaningful perspectives. Resulting from applying strictly inductive and Complexity-based approaches, findings unveil complex perspectives on issues of CE adoption processes. Thus, the typification of elements, relationships, dimensions, and inter-relational dynamics involved in CE phenomena can assist in the development of conceptual propositions that enable theoretical progress in the field of CE studies, which benefits strategic, managerial, and assessment roles in the implementation of CE practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"6 5","pages":"408"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13534171/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148882379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the 'Consumer Repair Journey' and Business Intervention Opportunities to Enhance Customer Experience and Satisfaction.","authors":"Tung Dao, Tim Cooper, Matthew Watkins","doi":"10.1007/s43615-026-00773-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-026-00773-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current linear economic model has led to the creation of low-priced and short-lived products at the cost of shaping fast and unsustainable consumption. Product repair, the process of maintaining the functionality of items by correcting a defect, should, in theory, retain product value and improve material efficiency. However, the transformation of current repair practices requires the comprehensive engagement of consumers and different business stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers and repair service providers. In particular, the repair journey that consumers go through when deciding whether (and how) to repair an item involves a set of complex decisions and actions. This paper aims to provide a synthesis of this sequence and address the complexity of the consumer's repair journey, considering different product sectors. To achieve this aim, the research consisted of a set of consumer focus groups to gather insights into consumers' repair journeys, considering four stages: identification of product faults and repair need, information search and evaluation of alternatives, repair in action and post-repair evaluation. The paper contributes to the field by developing a holistic 'consumer repair journey' framework and presents findings on the factors that influence consumer intentions, how these intentions translate into behaviour at each stage, and overall satisfaction during the journey. Additionally, it provides guidance to industry professionals on how to implement interventions that could positively impact consumer repair intentions and their translation into behaviour. These interventions could align with companies' strategic efforts to embrace customer experience, 'right to repair' initiatives, and the growth of sustainable, repair-focused enterprises across various product industries, as advocated by the European Commission (2020) and, more recently, Right to Repair Europe (2023).</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"6 2","pages":"193"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13076544/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147693523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping Uncertain Risks and Impacts of Substances of Concern in Product Life Cycles - An SSbD Tool for Product Developers.","authors":"Julieta Bolaños Arriola, Maaike Weber, Nina van Dulmen, Jeroen Guinée, Martina G Vijver, Ruud Balkenende","doi":"10.1007/s43615-026-01077-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-026-01077-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Current Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) frameworks, such as those proposed by the Joint Research Centre, support the development of safer, more sustainable substances, materials, and manufacturing processes. However, these were not designed for product developers or designers and therefore do not align with the iterative and creative nature of product development, nor with its specific needs and constraints. Broad adoption of SSbD requires tiered, resource-efficient assessments tailored to the specific needs of different professionals. The product developer's perspective is essential for creating safer, more sustainable products, enabling context-specific evaluation of chemical applications, substances of concern (SoC), and product life cycles. In a circular economy, where products, parts, and materials circulate, holistic views become critical, as emissions and exposures may increase and accumulate. Therefore, we developed the Mapping Assessment for Product Substance Safety and Sustainability (MAPSSS) tool, which integrates principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Risk Assessment (RA) into a product development context. Through iterative development based on real-life cases of products containing SoC, we combined essential elements of RA and LCA into a product development workflow. Expert input on environmental assessment and ecotoxicology informed each iteration of the process. MAPSSS supports product developers in identifying and assessing SoC risks, trade-offs, uncertainty levels, and environmental impacts across the product life cycle. It enables the identification of risk hotspots in reference products, supporting mitigation strategies and comparison with new solutions. This represents an initial step toward a product-specific SSbD assessment tool for early design stages.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43615-026-01077-w.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"6 4","pages":"372"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13433538/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148674640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Brussels and California Effects? Circular Economy Policy Influence Across Borders.","authors":"Nancy Bocken, Matthew Coffay, Carl Dalhammar","doi":"10.1007/s43615-025-00516-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-025-00516-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The influence of environmental policy has been known to move beyond the country or regional contexts in which they have been implemented. Examples in literature include the \"California effect\" and the \"Brussels effect\", showing how the policies adopted in the EU and California influence other jurisdictions. In this paper we study the following: To what extent are companies operating in the United States influenced by circular economy policies outside their direct context? By interviewing companies operating in the United States, we find that firms are influenced by and actively work to influence circular economy policy, both as it originates from outside the United States (the Brussels effect, referring to policies in Europe) and from within the United States (such as the California effect). Key barriers to circular innovation include the lack of a comprehensive policy framework in the U.S., opposition from competitors, and making the business model work in the U.S. legal context. Strategies to overcome these include: getting legal support for circular business models, developing U.S. regulations, level the playing field for all U.S.-based companies, lobbying for supporting regulation, and collaboration. We find that EV battery recycling is a positive exception where U.S. policy provides clarity for circular innovation. Finally, we find that the characteristics of the 'typical' U.S. consumer may call for specific circular business models. We suggest future research to enhance our understanding on how policy might positively drive circular economy innovations in international companies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"5 3","pages":"1665-1688"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12185659/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating National Circular Economy Practices in the UK: Setting a Strategic Agenda for a Nation-Wide Roadmap.","authors":"Halidu Abu-Bakar, Fiona Charnley","doi":"10.1007/s43615-025-00669-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-025-00669-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This research presents a comprehensive analysis of Circular Economy (CE) practices across the United Kingdom, using advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, specifically Named Entity Recognition (NER), chosen for its reproducible, large-scale extraction of locations, sectors and 9R actions from 1.2 million words of policy text. The study examines 36 key documents, comprising roadmaps, policy statements, and sectoral reports, to categorise CE activities such as recycling, reduction, reuse, and recovery. The dataset includes 22,589 distinct entries, covering 52 locations, 34 industrial sectors, and 109 stakeholder categories. Notably, recycling emerges as the most dominant activity, representing 42.8% of all practices, which suggests an over-reliance on waste management solutions rather than upstream interventions like reduction and remanufacturing. Analysis shows that Construction & Demolition (19.8%) and Food & Beverage (13.7%) account for most initiatives, while the Digital, Electronics and Aviation sectors together contribute barely 1%. Local authorities lead 18% of actions, yet trade organisations add less than 1%. Regional priorities also differ: Wales directs 46% of activity to waste management, whereas Scotland and Northern Ireland devote 44% and 53% respectively to decarbonisation and resource-efficiency measures. These disparities reveal structural asymmetries in investment and skills and therefore justify a devolved-yet-co-ordinated policy mechanism, similar to the UK Industrial Strategy Council, that can harmonise regional targets while preserving local strengths. This research offers critical insights into sectoral and geographic patterns, allowing policymakers to prioritise gaps in existing CE initiatives. Although recycling diverts material from landfill, our results indicate that this downstream concentration yields lower value-retention and slower decarbonisation than upstream actions (e.g. design-for-reuse or remanufacturing), signalling an urgent need to rebalance UK policy towards the upper tiers of the 9R hierarchy. Notably, our findings reveal a fragmented approach to CE in the UK- with regions pursuing different priorities and a heavy reliance on recycling- underscoring the need for a unified national CE roadmap. We therefore recommend the development of an integrated UK-wide CE strategy that incentivises upstream practices (e.g. reduction and reuse) and harmonises regional efforts to achieve broader circular economy goals.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"5 6","pages":"5279-5313"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12701016/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145758583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of Different Bio-additives in the Properties οf Cement Mortars.","authors":"P Kampragkou, M Stefanidou","doi":"10.1007/s43615-025-00506-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-025-00506-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nowadays, the research in the field of building materials revolves around the basic principles of sustainability, environmental protection, circular economy and proper management of natural and financial resources. In this context, the current study aimed to implement several biomaterials of diverse species and geometry into cement mortar mixtures and to evaluate their physical, mechanical and hydrothermal properties. Thus, black pine wood and bark powder, pellet crumb and agro-pasture and hemp fibers were incorporated at 1.5% v/v addition rate in cement mortars. After 28 hardening days, all bio-enhanced mortar samples presented advanced flexural strength and decreased specific gravity and thermal conductivity records in relation to the reference-unreinforced case. Furthermore, the powder-crumb like biomaterials seemed to perform as fillers reducing the porosity and capillary absorption values of the specimens compared to the reference composition. From the analysis it seems that biomaterials could provide low cost and eco-friendly reinforcement solutions in the construction sector.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"5 8","pages":"7379-7387"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12804255/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145999970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding the Level of Integration in Existing Chemical Clusters: Case Study in the Port of Rotterdam.","authors":"Michael Tan, Paola Ibarra-González, Igor Nikolic, Andrea Ramírez Ramírez","doi":"10.1007/s43615-024-00410-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s43615-024-00410-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The petrochemical industry is composed of several interconnected processes that use fossil-based feedstock for producing chemicals. These processes are typically geographically clustered and often belong to different parties. Reducing the environmental impacts of the petrochemical industry is not straightforward due to, on the one hand, their reliance on fossil fuels for energy and as a feedstock and, on the other hand, the significant level of interconnected energy and material flows among processes. Current methods for analyzing changes to existing processes cannot capture the multitude and level of interactions. The goal of this paper is to create a model of a petrochemical cluster and analyze its physical characteristics and performance. This paper addresses this goal by developing an assessment method that combines process simulations, multiplex graph analysis, and key performance indicators. The method is applied to a case study based on the petrochemical cluster in the Port of Rotterdam, resulting in a uniquely highly detailed model of a petrochemical cluster. The network analysis results show that only some of the processes are very interconnected. From the performance analysis, it can be observed that the olefins process is the most carbon-intense and has high CO₂ emissions. Additionally, the results showed the importance of considering existing interconnections when assessing the current performance of existing petrochemical clusters or the performance due to future changes to chemical processes. For instance, some changes would occur to an industrial cluster by introducing alternative carbon sources, such as biomass or CO₂.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43615-024-00410-5.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"5 1","pages":"125-146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11876245/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143568372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards a Thermodynamical Deep-Learning-Vision-Based Flexible Robotic Cell for Circular Healthcare.","authors":"Federico Zocco, Denis Sleath, Shahin Rahimifard","doi":"10.1007/s43615-025-00532-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-025-00532-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The dependence on finite reserves of raw materials and the generation of waste are two unsolved problems of the traditional linear economy. Healthcare, as a major sector of any nation, is currently facing them. In addition, the reprocessing of healthcare waste poses humans at risk of contamination. Another open issue is that circular economy, which is a paradigm that is being proposed to address material supply uncertainties and waste generation, still lacks physics-based modeling approaches that enable the design and analysis of circular flows of materials. Hence, in this paper, first we report on the on-going development of a flexible robotic cell enabled by deep-learning vision for automating three main tasks in a circular healthcare, namely, resources mapping and quantification, disassembly, and waste sorting of small medical devices. Second, we combine compartmental dynamical thermodynamics with the mechanics of robots to integrate robotics into a system-level perspective. Our thermodynamic framework is a step forward in defining the theoretical foundations of circular material flow designs because it enhances material flow analysis (MFA) by adding dynamical energy balances to the usual mass balances and by leveraging dynamical systems theory. Third, we propose two circularity indicators by leveraging our thermodynamic framework and graph theory. While our initial set-up of the robotic cell is for reprocessing glucose meters and inhalers, other medical devices can be considered after making the proper adaptations; in addition, it can switch from sorting to disassembly to resources mapping and quantification, or run them in parallel. Our thermodynamic systemic modeling framework involves more physics and system dynamics than MFA, and hence, can yield the needed improvements in model accuracy and reproducibility at the cost of extra complexity. Finally, the proposed circularity indicators can help healthcare chain managers in assessing whether the robotic cell can process the input stream of materials within the desired time and with the desired level of separation at the output material flow. Software and a demo video are publicly available.</p>","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"5 4","pages":"3187-3209"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12380972/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144980895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of the Aquaponic System Sustainability via System Dynamics Modelling – FEW Nexus Approach","authors":"Érika Cristina Francisco, T. A. Freato, Alessandro Luís Piolli, Mariano Dal Poz","doi":"10.1007/s43615-024-00408-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-024-00408-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72595,"journal":{"name":"Circular economy and sustainability","volume":"27 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}