Implementation of a circular economy at universities

The circular economy (CE) literature has so far focused on the implementation of the CE philosophy in teaching and research at universities. However, studies on the implementation of CE principles for sustainable campus management are lacking. This chapter shows how the latter may be achieved using the University of Manchester as an illustrative case. A CE decision-support framework combining backcasting and eco-design was used for these purposes to help the university identify opportunities and develop a pragmatic action plan for implementation of a CE. The chapter also illustrates the first steps that need to be taken to build a CE business case. Future research should focus on quantifying the sustainability implications of implementing a CE in universities, including definition of meaningful performance indicators, stakeholder benefits and how university living labs can be used for experimentation towards CE implementation. This could help monitor CE progress and benchmark universities on their circularity and sustainability performance.