IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2021i1p190-d710948.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transition to a Sustainable Circular Plastics Economy in The Netherlands: Discourse and Policy Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Calisto Friant

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Dirkjan Lakerveld

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Walter J. V. Vermeulen

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Roberta Salomone

    (Department of Economics, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy)

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) has become a key sustainability discourse in the last decade. The Netherlands seeks to become fully circular by 2050 and the EU has set ambitious circularity targets in its CE Action Plan of 2015. The plastics sector, in particular, has gained a lot of attention as it is a priority area of both the EU and Dutch CE policies. However, there has been little research on the different and often contested discourses, governance processes and policy mechanisms guiding the transition to a circular economy and society. This paper aims to fill these gaps by asking what circular discourses and policies are being promoted in the Netherlands and what sustainability implications and recommendations can be drawn from it. It does so through a mix of media analysis, policy analysis, semi-structured interviews, and surveys using Q-methodology. Results indicate a dominance of technocentric imaginaries, and a general lack of discussion on holistic, and transformative visions, which integrate the full social, political, and ecological implication of a circular future. To address those challenges, this research brings key policy insights and recommendations which can help both academics and practitioners better understand and implement the transition towards a sustainable circular plastics economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Calisto Friant & Dirkjan Lakerveld & Walter J. V. Vermeulen & Roberta Salomone, 2021. "Transition to a Sustainable Circular Plastics Economy in The Netherlands: Discourse and Policy Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-32, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2021:i:1:p:190-:d:710948
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/190/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/190/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Salih Çevikarslan & Carsten Gelhard & Jörg Henseler, 2022. "Improving the Material and Financial Circularity of the Plastic Packaging Value Chain in The Netherlands: Challenges, Opportunities, and Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Kaustubh Thapa & Walter J. V. Vermeulen & Mo Ming Waal & Pauline Deutz & Hồng Quân Nguyễn, 2024. "Towards a Just Circular Economy Transition: the Case of European Plastic Waste Trade to Vietnam for Recycling," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 851-876, June.
    3. Greg Munno & Álvaro Salas Castro & Tina Nabatchi & Christian M. Freitag, 2022. "Four Perspectives on a Sustainable Future in Nosara, Costa Rica," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-23, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2021:i:1:p:190-:d:710948. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.