Figure - available via license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
The circular economy implies that the primary source of economic growth is the maximum reuse of many materials obtained from products at the end of their life cycle and the minimum extraction of new resources. In contrast to it, the traditional linear economy follows a simple path “take - produce - dispose”, i.e., it is based on the constant extrac...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... order to evaluate the efficiency of the Western Balkan countries in applying the circular economy principles, it is necessary to select certain indicators representing inputs and outputs. Table 1 provides an overview of the selected indicators. Three indicators related to applying circular economy principles in the observed country represent inputs, while the fourth indicator represents output (GDP per capita). ...Context 2
... the same time, the application of existing inputs was constant (EC). Albania 1,034 0,988 1,227 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 0,996 0,639 0,483 0,987 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,009 1,011 1,257 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 0,941 1,063 1,000 Montenegro 1,035 1,002 1,140 1,033 0,946 0,972 1,094 0,644 0,921 1,046 0,974 North Macedonia 1,008 0,906 0,963 1,157 0,936 1,025 0,955 0,905 0,862 1,046 0,854 Serbia 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 0,550 0,955 EU-27 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 ...Citations
... Montenegro and Kosovo have been removed from this analysis because there is no official data in Eurostat. performance of circular economy in the Western Balkan countries Based on previous studies (Mitrović & Pešalj, 2023), the following indicators were selected as input and output as shown in Table 3. ...
In conditions where global population growth, climate change, and demand for natural resources are constantly increasing, environmental issues are receiving more and more attention. The exponential speed of these changes has directed attention towards a more sustainable economy in a new economic model where waste does not exist. Although the European Union is undertaking ongoing policies and measures to promote the circular economy in all other European countries aspiring to become part of the Union, much more effort is needed in this direction for the Western Balkan countries. Objective: This study aims to compare the effectiveness of circular economy initiatives in the Western Balkan countries and assess their performance. Method: This study relied on secondary data sources to compare circular economy practices in six Western Balkan countries: Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, using the DEA method. Data were gathered from government papers, international databases (including Eurostat), scholarly articles, and other publications. Results: The findings show that the countries included in the study do not have significant variations in the performance of the circular economy indicators. What is noticed is that all these countries need improvements in the legislative field, doing business, government institutions waste management, financing, and technological innovation. Originality: By identifying the strengths and weaknesses in these studied countries, their differences and commonalities, and the state of the art of the circular economy, the research offers important implications for policymakers and practitioners who aim to promote more sustainable economic development.
