IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/inecol/v25y2021i4p994-1008.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to handle the policy conflict between resource circulation and hazardous substances in the use of waste?

Author

Listed:
  • Nils Johansson
  • Joakim Krook

Abstract

A circular economy creates a policy conflict between increased resource circulation and decreased dispersal of hazardous substances. On the basis of three case studies in the EU, we have therefore identified various regulatory questions that can be posed to address the occurrence of hazardous substances in the use of waste. For each of these questions, we have proposed two possible responses influencing the design of the regulation and analyzed their consequences both from a circularity and from a toxicity perspective. Currently, the regulations focus on reducing the dispersal of hazardous substances rather than stimulating resource circulation. The allowable contamination levels in the waste are typically regulated in relation to its mass rather than its content of valuable resources. The regulation of hazards in waste can be further developed in two general ways, by emphasizing either the risk of exposure to hazards or the total content of hazards. A risk approach is beneficial for short‐term circularity and waste producers. A hazard approach is beneficial for long‐term circularity and waste users. In order to improve the balancing of the policy conflict in question, values, underlying assumptions, and the effects of hazardous substances and resource circulation need to be better understood.

Suggested Citation

  • Nils Johansson & Joakim Krook, 2021. "How to handle the policy conflict between resource circulation and hazardous substances in the use of waste?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(4), pages 994-1008, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:25:y:2021:i:4:p:994-1008
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13103
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jiec.13103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roland Geyer & Brandon Kuczenski & Trevor Zink & Ashley Henderson, 2016. "Common Misconceptions about Recycling," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(5), pages 1010-1017, October.
    2. Fenna Blomsma & Geraldine Brennan, 2017. "The Emergence of Circular Economy: A New Framing Around Prolonging Resource Productivity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 603-614, June.
    3. Terri Goldberg, 2017. "What about the Circularity of Hazardous Materials?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 491-493, June.
    4. Dirk Scheer & Christina Benighaus & Ludger Benighaus & Ortwin Renn & Stefan Gold & Bettina Röder & Gaby‐Fleur Böl, 2014. "The Distinction Between Risk and Hazard: Understanding and Use in Stakeholder Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(7), pages 1270-1285, July.
    5. Johansson, Nils & Krook, Joakim & Eklund, Mats, 2014. "Institutional conditions for Swedish metal production: A comparison of subsidies to metal mining and metal recycling," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 72-82.
    6. Trevor Zink & Roland Geyer, 2017. "Circular Economy Rebound," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 593-602, June.
    7. Weston Baxter & Marco Aurisicchio & Peter Childs, 2017. "Contaminated Interaction: Another Barrier to Circular Material Flows," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 507-516, June.
    8. Sarkis, Joseph & Cordeiro, James J., 2001. "An empirical evaluation of environmental efficiencies and firm performance: Pollution prevention versus end-of-pipe practice," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 102-113, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Helbig & Yasushi Kondo & Shinichiro Nakamura, 2022. "Simultaneously tracing the fate of seven metals at a global level with MaTrace‐multi," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 923-936, June.
    2. Hervé Corvellec & Alison F. Stowell & Nils Johansson, 2022. "Critiques of the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 421-432, April.
    3. Christoph Helbig & Jonas Huether & Charlotte Joachimsthaler & Christian Lehmann & Simone Raatz & Andrea Thorenz & Martin Faulstich & Axel Tuma, 2022. "A terminology for downcycling," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1164-1174, August.
    4. Nils Johansson, 2021. "Circular Agreements—Exploring the Role of Agreements and Deals as a Political Tool for a Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 499-505, September.
    5. Marzena Smol & Paulina Marcinek & Eugeniusz Koda, 2021. "Drivers and Barriers for a Circular Economy (CE) Implementation in Poland—A Case Study of Raw Materials Recovery Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Sascha P. Klein & Verena Liszt‐Rohlf & Patrick Spieth, 2023. "Value‐based bricolage: Resource mobilization in the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1476-1487, December.
    7. Florian Siekmann & Sandra Venghaus, 2024. "Regional transformation pathways for the bioeconomy: A novel monitoring approach for complex transitions," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 603-616, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hervé Corvellec & Alison F. Stowell & Nils Johansson, 2022. "Critiques of the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 421-432, April.
    2. Erik G. Hansen & Ferdinand Revellio, 2020. "Circular value creation architectures: Make, ally, buy, or laissez‐faire," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(6), pages 1250-1273, December.
    3. E. Sardianou & V. Nikou & K. Evangelinos & I. Nikolaou, 2024. "What are the key dimensions that CE emphasizes on? A systematic analysis of circular economy definitions," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 547-562, September.
    4. Florian Lüdeke‐Freund & Stefan Gold & Nancy M. P. Bocken, 2019. "A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 36-61, February.
    5. Christopher Kennedy & Reid Lifset, 2018. "Winners of the 2017 Graedel Prizes: The Journal of Industrial Ecology Best Paper Prizes," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 997-999, October.
    6. Erik G. Hansen & Julia C. Schmitt, 2021. "Orchestrating cradle‐to‐cradle innovation across the value chain: Overcoming barriers through innovation communities, collaboration mechanisms, and intermediation," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(3), pages 627-647, June.
    7. Balint Horvath & Miriam Bahna & Csaba Fogarassy, 2019. "The Ecological Criteria of Circular Growth and the Rebound Risk of Closed Loops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    8. German Arana‐Landin & Waleska Sigüenza & Beñat Landeta‐Manzano & Iker Laskurain‐Iturbe, 2024. "Circular economy: On the road to ISO 59000 family of standards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1977-2009, May.
    9. Monia Niero & Charlotte L. Jensen & Chiara Farné Fratini & Jens Dorland & Michael S. Jørgensen & Susse Georg, 2021. "Is life cycle assessment enough to address unintended side effects from Circular Economy initiatives?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1111-1120, October.
    10. Rachel Greer & Timo Wirth & Derk Loorbach, 2023. "The Circular Decision-Making Tree: an Operational Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 693-718, June.
    11. Hans Eickhoff, 2024. "The appeal of the circular economy revisited: on track for transformative change or enabler of moral licensing?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    12. Nancy Bocken & Lars Strupeit & Katherine Whalen & Julia Nußholz, 2019. "A Review and Evaluation of Circular Business Model Innovation Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, April.
    13. John Ryter & Xinkai Fu & Karan Bhuwalka & Richard Roth & Elsa Olivetti, 2022. "Assessing recycling, displacement, and environmental impacts using an economics‐informed material system model," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 1010-1024, June.
    14. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    15. Mihail Busu, 2019. "Adopting Circular Economy at the European Union Level and Its Impact on Economic Growth," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-12, May.
    16. Federico Cuomo, 2022. "Urban Living Lab: An Experimental Co-Production Tool to Foster the Circular Economy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, June.
    17. Rafael Laurenti & Jagdeep Singh & Björn Frostell & Rajib Sinha & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "The Socio-Economic Embeddedness of the Circular Economy: An Integrative Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, June.
    18. Hampus André, 2024. "Opening the black box of the use phase in circular economy life cycle assessments: Environmental performance of shell jacket reuse," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 542-555, June.
    19. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    20. Leila Saari & Katri Valkokari & Jorge Tiago Martins & Federica Acerbi, 2024. "Circular Economy Matrix Guiding Manufacturing Industry Companies towards Circularity—A Multiple Case Study Perspective," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 2505-2530, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:25:y:2021:i:4:p:994-1008. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1088-1980 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.