Circular Economy and Sustainability - CIES, Springer

17/12/2022

The December issue (Volume 2, issue 4) of our journal has just been published. There are 18 new interesting articles on various topics of and !

Volume 2, issue 4 articles listing for Circular Economy and Sustainability

26/10/2022

📢 Call for Papers for a Special Issue:
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆
This SI invites contributions advancing the understanding on the interplay between the functions, systems, , and for improving the in modern .
Submission deadline: April 30, 2023

Globally, soil health is rapidly deteriorating, posing a direct threat to human existence. In addition, the rapidly booming population, urbanization, global warming, salinity, soil pollution, groundwater contamination, and other abiotic stresses threaten food security (Sustainable Development Goal N...

23/09/2022

📢 The September issue is now published with 25 new articles.
The issue includes articles of the special issue "Convergence Research: Catalyzing Sustainable Energy Solutions for Circular Economies of the Future"
Don't forget; all articles are freely accessible till the end of the year!

Volume 2, issue 3 articles listing for Circular Economy and Sustainability

09/09/2022

Which are the core to shift from to a in the ?

This study concentrates on the built environment in (one of the ), where its constituting elements are characterized by several stakeholders, extensive lifespans, and plenty of apparatuses and supplementary materials that interact dynamically.

Based on desk explorations, a fundamental understanding regarding CE barriers in built environment has been developed. A non-random sample of respondents nominated by the researchers was taken. Semi-structured with CE experts have been conducted. To accelerate the transformation towards , the researchers have tried to pinpoint the barriers of CE within the built environment. This will constitute the foundation of future work for the development of the circular economy.

This study intended to develop a vigorous method to recognize the core barriers to shift from linear to a circular economy in built environment. The circular economy model has arisen as an environmentally responsible substitute to the current linear model. Most of the body of knowledge has comprehen...

18/07/2022

📢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 "𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲
The time has come for fundamental . To ensure prosperity for humanity in the long term, to is necessary. Achieving sustainability - i.e., a safe and just operating space for humanity - requires changing the way the business operates.
This special issue combines two crucial but parallel debates on how to achieve an economy that minimizes use and generation ( ) and how to achieve that contributes to sustainability ( ). It takes an original approach in joining the two issues together through the recognition that neither a circular economy nor incremental corporate sustainability initiatives are sufficient if they do not contribute to achieving sustainability.

The time has come for fundamental change. To ensure prosperity for humanity in the long term and recovery from the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fallout from the war in Ukraine, transformation to sustainability is necessary. Achieving sustainability - i.e., a safe...

01/07/2022

This communication by Peterson K. Ozili PhD highlights the of the to and other in financing projects and : (i) greater loan , (ii) responsible and , (iii) increased lending to circular clients and the which means more profit for banks, and (iv) correcting the bad perception about banks in society.

Other benefits include: (i) issuance of special policies for reused products; (ii) greater -adjusted return on investment; (iii) greater funding to institutions; and (iv) more opportunities for collaborative funding to .

The circular economy agenda is widely seen as a response to climate change and is forcing societies to re-evaluate how resources are used towards creating a sustainable economy that is free of waste. Financial institutions are being pressured to finance circular projects and investment. But for fina...

23/06/2022

A new issue of is out!
There are 19 new articles to explore on and along with a from the International Sustainable Development Research Society 2020 conference.
Enjoy!
https://link.springer.com/journal/43615/volumes-and-issues/2-2

07/06/2022

In low- and middle-income countries, underpin the loop of the while addressing multiscalar environmental problems from localized of -clogged waterways, to preventing the release of when plastic is burnt.
This paper reviews recent academic and grey literature on waste picking, the circular economy, and to understand the role and position of waste pickers in the contemporary circular economy.
Two models are presented. The first is a hierarchy of showing the foundational role of waste pickers in the recycled plastics . As plastics move up the hierarchy, their value increases and working conditions improve.
A new model for a socially restorative circular economy provides fair pay, safe , , , voice, respect, services, and .
For true and the best version of circularity to be achieved, deeply ingrained social challenges must be resolved.

The labour-intensive task of waste collection for recycling is critical to contemporary forms of corporate circularity. In low- and middle-income countries, waste pickers underpin the recycling loop of the circular economy. Where informality and working poverty are the norm, waste pickers typically....

23/05/2022

Kirchherr wrote this provocative opinion article arguing that up to 50% of the articles that are now being published in many interdisciplinary sustainability and transitions journals may be categorized as “scholarly bullsh*t.” What do you think?
He claims that these are articles that typically engage with the latest sustainability and transitions buzzword (e.g., circular economy), while contributing little to none to the scholarly body of knowledge on the topic. A typology of “scholarly bullsh*t” is proposed which includes the following archetypes: boring question scholarship, literature review of literature reviews, recycled research, master thesis madness, and activist rants.
Since “scholarly bullsh*t” articles engage with the latest academic buzzwords, they also tend to accumulate significant citations and are thus welcomed by many journal editors. Citations matter most in the metric-driven logic of the academic system, and this type of scholarship, sadly, is thus unlikely to decrease in the coming years.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43615-022-00175-9

18/05/2022

In this study, Elena-Simina Lakatos, Mircea Florentin Vlad, Roxana Pacurariu, Andrea Szilagyi & Doris Cadar aim at assisting researchers in consolidating key aspects to that still lie on a fragmented knowledge base. They consider that the effect of any action should be evaluated by determining the most probable results and the dynamic of any process (using ), by considering the of the three fundamental scalars in nature, ie , , and . This article presents a consonant approach of the , aiming to optimize the intervention of humans in the and its performance and having the scope of the integrating human actions in the , to secure .

Literature so far illustrates different approaches to achieving circular economy (CE). It is increasingly important that every industry explores opportunities to transitioning towards CE doing it through process streamlining or via uses of technology to transform/exchange the resources. We recognize...

10/05/2022

This study by Paul Rogers focuses on the role and in . In the absence of legally established property rights, the extent to which consumers experience a subjective sense of over accessed (i.e., rented or shared) and will be important in both understanding and fostering CE development.
This paper introduces the construct and theory of (PO), discussing empirical evidence for its role in access-based consumption, primarily consumers’ use of (PSSs). Overall, there is reasonable evidence that PSS users can and do develop a sense of psychological ownership for rented items with, by implication, accessed goods and services activating at least one behavioural pathway or “route” to its development.
A conceptual application of Psychological Ownership Theory to access-based consumption - hence the CE framework - is forwarded, with potential frustrations to PO development, plus implications for marketers and CE strategists, also discussed. With relevant literature, still sparse various directions for future research are also suggested.

Most Circular Economy (CE) research to date has focused on supply-side factors such as the design, implementation, and monitoring of Circular business models, with comparatively little attention given to the role consumers and consumer psychology are likely to play in CE transition. A key driver of....

05/05/2022

Call for papers, Special issue 'How can contribute to the ?'
New submission deadline July 31
Guest Editors Luca Fraccascia & Ilaria Giannoccaro.
More info: https://www.springer.com/journal/43615/updates/19934202

The Circular Economy is the new industrial paradigm that companies have to embrace aimed at reducing the environmental impact of industrial activities (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015), which is no longer sustainable in the long period (Wiedmann et al., 2015). The Circular Economy can be defined as...

02/05/2022

Our and community is still growing!
Today we reached another milestone of 4000 followers on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cies-journal).
The growing number of followers and also of journal submissions encourages us to continue to share and create information on our output.
We would like to thank everyone not just because they follow our page and like our posts, but mostly because they believe that is the much-needed tool to promote the and to reach a truly .
Stay tuned to learn about our new plans for 2022!

27/04/2022

For to overcome barriers, appropriate set of managerial practices are needed. These barriers can also influence the sector. This study by by Yang, Ana Carolina Bertassini, Jéssica Alves Justo Mendes, and Mateus Gerolamo proposes a solution based on CM strategies for .

A deep analysis verified in the agricultural context the common errors in CM, and the correlation between these findings. The two areas were combined in a matrix that shows the connection between common errors in CM errors and CE barriers.

Based on this result, a solution framework called 3CE2CE was developed that provides a step-by-step guide on how organisations can successfully undergo transformation processes towards a CE with the principles of CM.

For the transition towards a circular economy (CE), organisations have to be prepared to adapt to major changes. Thus, the concept and implementation of change management (CM) will be essential to an organisation’s success during this transformative period. Studies have shown that organisational C...

04/04/2022

A study on (EPR) schemes to increase and from streams. Many organisations (PROs), who execute their members’ responsibilities in EPR schemes, are considering promoting and have initiated a number of pilot projects.
have high commercial potential for reuse, but reuse seems unlikely due to legal and organisational . Through an empirical investigation with relevant , based on , and the analysis of two of PROs that developed criteria for allowing reusers to access their end-of-life white goods, this contribution presents insights on and barriers for the and reuse of white goods in EPR schemes and discusses potential interventions that could facilitate the of reuse activities.
Concluding, the analysis highlights the currently insufficient landscape for incentivizing reuse and the need for additional interventions to make reuse feasible as a mainstream enterprise.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes have proliferated across Europe and other parts of the world in recent years and have contributed to increasing material and energy recovery from waste streams. Currently, EPR schemes do not provide sufficient incentives for moving towards the higher le...

25/03/2022

The 1st issue in 2022 of and (CIES) journal is out now! It includes a Special Issue "The Era of Circular ", organized by the Greek Bioeconomy Forum.
𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 of journal published in 2021 & 2022 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 till end of 2022!

Volume 2, issue 1 articles listing for Circular Economy and Sustainability

17/03/2022

A study by on circular and .
In these sectors, is viewed as a way to decrease and negative . In this paper, the fashion system is studied from a critical social-ecological perspective. Social drivers and ecological impacts are an adaptive social-ecological system, exposing how these interacting aspects need to be addressed for and implementation of circular economy. The goal is to expand possibilities for reframing responses that better reflect the complex links between the global fashion system, culture and creativity and the dynamics of the living planet. More emphasis is needed on the many cross-scale links between social and ecological dimensions. Resilient decisions aiming for sustainable of the industry must therefore pay attention to social activities beyond the industry value chain, not just within it.

The fashion and textiles industry, and policymakers at all levels, are showing an increased interest in the concept of circular economy as a way to decrease business risks and negative environmental impacts. However, focus is placed mainly on the material ‘stuff’ of textile fashion and its bioph...

28/02/2022

A study on the (IoT) to support strategies in line with the (CE).
The net environmental impact of IoT-enabled circular strategies is assessed in the specific case of in the Swedish context, in order to gain insight into when and how it makes environmental sense to embed IoT hardware into products to support . It is quantified:
(1) the potential savings in the different phases made possible through access to data, and (2) the from the added technology needed to provide and process the data. (LCA) is used to evaluate the difference in impact between the current state and an ‘IoT scenario’.
The IoT scenario gives a 4% lower weighted life cycle impact than the current state. The results are also sensitive to assumptions about the environmental impact of the IoT hardware components, implying that design decisions at this level can be important for ensuring a net environmental impact reduction from IoT-enabled circular strategies.

The idea of leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) to support strategies in line with the circular economy (CE) has been gaining traction in literature. However, previous work has predominantly focused on the opportunities that these technologies can bring, and few studies have critically assessed....

20/02/2022

An article in the scientific news portal of FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation), Brazil's most important research foundation, that highlights a recent article published in CIES: "𝐴 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑂𝑉𝐼𝐷-19 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑃𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑙", by Lais Lima, Rafaela Gutierres and Sandra Cruz.
The authors emphasize that is the fourth largest producer globally and that, during the pandemic, laws that tried to reduce the use of this material were suspended.
The authors pointed out the absence of on in Brazil and highlighted the importance of the of these workers for an effective . After the pandemic, the authors concluded that a plan is necessary to improve the solid waste management and initiatives, as well as to guide the collective responsibility and ensure the waste picker's rights.
Link to the study: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43615-021-00130-0
https://agencia.fapesp.br/o-impacto-da-pandemia-para-os-catadores-de-residuos-solidos-no-brasil-e-tema-de-estudo-da-ufscar/37880/

Cientistas ligados ao Centro de Desenvolvimento de Materiais Funcionais da UFSCar apontam a ausência de dados sobre a gestão de resíduos no país e ressaltam a importância da inclusão social desses trabalhadores

18/02/2022

Want to know more about the concept of ? Check this study on its use for as for bioconversion for lactic acid production using lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The theoretical , , and of brewery is examined within the scope of wastewater and . is the fifth of the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. For example, wastewater generation for breweries in reach 300 million m3/year.

The system design is based on and , resulting in the generation of relatively abundant inexpensive liquid feedstock able to be recycled to produce chemicals such as lactic acid while reducing the of the and reducing .

The scope of this theoretical study is to investigate the concept of biorefinery applied to the use of brewery wastewater as feedstock for bioconversions for lactic acid production using lactic acid bacteria (LAB), while examining the theoretical design, development, and costing of brewery wastewate...

16/02/2022

In this study by Maria Antoniadou, Ph.D., Theodoros Vakkas and IOANNIS TZOUTZAS, (LCA) principles are coupled with (CE) and their application in the and sector worldwide is reviewed.
The results showed that seems to be the best option. Different adopted models are well defined for the dental field based on the module (reduce, reuse, recycle). Replacing disposable products with reusable ones seems to be a good way to tackle the problem of waste in these sectors. Interventions on the selection and better biomedical and dental waste management will ensure and of the future. These new terms should be the new philosophies that will change the way these fields operate in the future for the benefit of the professionals/patients and the community.

In this review, life cycle assessment (LCA) principles are coupled with circular economy (CE) in order to address LCA examples in the biomedical sector worldwide. The objectives were (1) to explore the application of LCA in the medical, pharmaceutical, and dental fields; (2) to describe the ways of....

10/02/2022

Exploring urban living labs (ULLs) to foster . In this study, Laura Corazza, Nicole Mariotti, Federico Cuomo and Grazia Sveva Ascione present the proGIreg project, a European project that entails the regeneration of former industrial districts by means of (NBS) in the City of Turin.
Ranging from to , seven NBS have been experimented. Among them, the most promising is related to the production and test of the ‘new soil’, a blend obtained by mixing coming from with , and . The data collected through participant observation and direct interviews allow researchers to describe multi-stakeholders’ dynamics and how they work.
Results include an analysis of the unique combination of different stakeholders, which strongly impacted on the management and the effectiveness of the entire project. By consequence, the paper offers both theoretical contributions to the relational branch of stakeholder theory and practical evidence in demonstrating the importance of the relational branch of the theory over a more traditional transactional view.

In the attempt to foster circular economy (CE), cities are increasingly adopting urban living labs (ULLs) as sites of co-production aimed at testing alternative solutions based on the reuse of products, reduction of consumption and recycling of materials. Taking this perspective, our study adopts an...

28/01/2022

A study by David C Finger and his colleagues on improving the generation and to tackle the challenges of the emerging environmental crisis. This study explores these parameters in waste streams in in , such as, fisheries, domestic processing, production, and aluminium production.

The results reveal that the increase in resource efficiency reduces the , increases the economic output, and enhances the of the . The presented concepts of added value generation could be the first step towards a , adhering to a more while preserving vital for the next generations.

The described processes of can be applied in any other country with similar resources.

Improved value generation and efficient use of resources are important steps national economies can implement to minimize the use of resources and mitigate the creation of waste and toxic emissions. The increase of resource efficiency is eminent to tackle the imminent challenges of depleting resourc...

18/01/2022

Want to know how to identify, promote, and define the core steps in an (IS) implementation process?
This study provides a comprehensive perspective that includes the different theoretical, technical, and strategic approaches for large-scale IS promotion. The main outputs are a final set of independent and sequential information clusters, their associated contents identification process, and a comprehensive description of the systematic approach used to support companies in the implementation of their pre-identified stages.
The guideline methodology proposed in this study is an important support tool for companies, practitioners, and agents intending to initiate IS synergies implementation and also a strong contribution to the development of complementary guidance activities regarding IS implementation process.

The increase of industrial symbiosis (IS) activities around the world has strongly contributed to promote awareness among companies on the benefits of this business model and, consequently, their interest to apply/incorporate dedicated IS actions in their activities. In most cases, companies assume....

12/01/2022

As the new year is already here, we review the first year since the inauguration of our journal.

In 2021, published its first 𝟒 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 with 𝟕𝟒 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 written by 𝟑𝟏𝟎 𝐜𝐨-𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 from 𝟒𝟐 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, thus marking a successful and very promising launch.

We are also proud of our international editorial board consisting of several well-known and esteemed colleagues and experts.

This first positive outcome gives us strength to continue working on expanding and growing our journal towards making it a global for and discussion and on the rising topic of .

We would like to thank all our contributors and readers.

We 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 to submit your work and join the growing community of CIES journal!

20/12/2021

Have a look at this opinion paper by Nils Johansson on agreements towards increasing the circulation of materials. Circular agreements seem to work when other types of regulations fail to establish circulation. These agreements bring actors together and offer a platform for negotiating how advantages and disadvantages can be redistributed between actors in a way that is more suitable for a circular economy.
However, circular agreements are dependent on other policy instruments to work and can generate a free-rider problem with uninvolved actors. The agreements may also become too detailed and long term, which leads to problem shifting and lock-ins, respectively.

A problem for a circular economy, embedded in its policies, tools, technologies and models, is that it is driven by the interests and needs of producers, rather than customers and users. This opinion paper focuses on an alternative form of governance—agreements, which thanks to their bargaining ap...

16/12/2021

Have a look at the 4th issue of our journal!
This issue is dedicated to the special issue "𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗼-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀".
The 18 articles discuss the current innovations in the sector to address the of increasing demand for fossil energy sources, agricultural land, and . It also presents new concepts, and on the of resources and the most viable options for translating commercially viable ideas into easily affordable and technologies.

Volume 1, issue 4 articles listing for Circular Economy and Sustainability

15/12/2021

A study by Leonidas Milios on the transition to a and the needed wide multi-level and multi .
As the circular economy action plan encourages the application of instruments, this study presents a comprehensive framework that includes (1) a resource tax, (2) reuse/repair tax relief, and (3) a hierarchy tax at the end of life of products. The analysis of tax relief on repairs is based on interviews with stakeholders in Sweden, where this economic policy instrument has been implemented since 2017. Finally, for the waste hierarchy tax, modelling is used to analyse potential impacts of future implementation.

The transition to a circular economy is a complex process requiring wide multi-level and multi-stakeholder engagement and can be facilitated by appropriate policy interventions. Taking stock of the importance of a well-balanced policy mix that includes a variety of complementing policy instruments,....