Structural analysis of six major Circular Economy currents and their implementation conditions

Details

Supervisors

Reuter, Carsten

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

As global warming and its impacts on the planet are becoming more and more present in our daily lives, it is time to look for solutions and changes. Among these proposed solutions is the Circular Economy (CE), which is the opposite of the current linear system. This very broad principle presents many advantages and opportunities at the environmental level, but also at the socio-economic one. However, it is subject to many barriers that can be cultural, related to the need for possession, organizational and technological, or institutional. This work focuses on six major currents of the CE: The functional service economy (Performance Economy)" by Walter Stahel, reviewing the Industrial Economy in an integrated way. "The Cradle-to-Cradle design philosophy" of William McDonough and Michael Braungart, which advocates the upcycle, in other words, recycling that maintains the quality of raw materials throughout the recycling cycles. "Biomimicry" as articulated by Janine Benyus, the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modelled on biological entities and processes. "The industrial ecology" of Reid Lifset and Thomas Graedel, viewing firms as environment improvement agents since they have technology to successfully make environmentally designed product. "The natural capitalism" by Amory and Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken, create opportunities and avoid scarcity of the natural capital. "The Blue Economy" by Gunter Pauli, inspired by natural ecosystems. Thanks to six criteria, certain characteristics necessary for the implementation of these currents are put forward, revealing their adequacy with capitalism, a scope of application aiming at the use of the local as well as the global, the impact on all sectors of activity, from the primary to the tertiary, changes applying as well to the level of firms as to the decision-makers and mentalities, the necessity of a combination of eco-efficiency, eco- effectiveness and sufficiency. Finally, it highlights the importance of the role of the state in the transition.