IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v227y2025ics0921800924002921.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

If there is waste, there is a system: Understanding Victoria's circular economy transition from a systems thinking perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Gajanayake, Akvan
  • Iyer-Raniga, Usha

Abstract

Governments around the world have started adopting circular economy policies with the aim of transitioning production and consumption systems to be more circular. This transition requires a holistic approach to overcome a multitude of interdependent challenges. To understand how the State of Victoria, Australia is transitioning to a circular economy, this paper uses a systems thinking approach to analyse the current ecosystem. Using data from multiple sources, Causal Loop Diagrams to depict sub-systems were developed and validated through focus group workshops. We found that there is a heavy reliance on the resource recovery and recycling sector, both at industry level and policy interventions. Common misconceptions that circular economy is an advanced recycling strategy was found to be a major barrier for the transition. Policies to overcome these misconceptions and developing accepted circularity indicators focusing on the design stage and upfront considerations of downstream end of life impacts would enable a holistic transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Gajanayake, Akvan & Iyer-Raniga, Usha, 2025. "If there is waste, there is a system: Understanding Victoria's circular economy transition from a systems thinking perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:227:y:2025:i:c:s0921800924002921
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108395
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924002921
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108395?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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:eee:ecolec:v:227:y:2025:i:c:s0921800924002921. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.