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Correlations in the European Circular Economy
Abstract
Circular economy is an economy based on the concept of circularity. Circularity means reuse, remanufacturing or recycling. The circular economy records higher economic benefits, but with minimal consumption of resources and less harmful to the environment. The economy is growing very fast, resources are limited, and the consequences are seen in the degradation of nature. So, the circular economy is the only solution to this issue facing society today. As the revenues are as bigger as possible, the intermediate consumption needs to be as small as possible. If revenues are expressed by gross domestic product, within the circular economy the link between GDP and renewable resources must be direct, as the share of renewable energy grows, the GDP grows, too. Between GDP and unemployment rate there is an inverse correlation, and gas emissions are inversely proportional to renewable resources, when GDP grows, renewable energy grows, too, and unemployment rate and gas emissions are decreasing. For this, are analysed these variables for energy sector, using GDP per capita, the share of renewable energy, gas emissions and unemployment rate in relation to the active population. Starting from the theoretical concepts, an empirical model was created with these variables, showing the related link for Europe, over the 2007-2015 period, using panel analysis.
... Policy instruments are essential for the insertion of circularity in the generation of renewable energy in the short and long terms [6]. The economic impact of an energy matrix with a predominance of renewable sources and a greater degree of circularity of its products and processes implies social development that leverages the generation of jobs and the simultaneous growth of GDP, in addition to supporting cultural modernization based on sustainability [12,13]. ...
... For the evaluation phase, 26 publications were identified, incorporating the following discussions: (1) the manufacture of a design and framework for encouraging public opinion to strengthen the measures taken towards integrate public policies concerning renewable energies; (2) analysis of public acceptance of the energy infrastructure; (3) raising awareness of CE issues; (4) compensation for the negative consequences of the transition process, enacting confidence measures, and raising the public's level of awareness of their own participation in the emission of greenhouse gases; (5) the determination of what has been hampering the implementation of renewable energies in Japan; (6) the way in which to achieve considerable CO2 reductions, job growth, product exports, green growth, and important economic effects; (7) how to allow companies to increase their capacity for innovation, the formation of partnerships with research associations, and innovative product portfolios; (8) the export of raw materials and employment of the population in the CE; (9) the generation of greater public support and participation; (10) policy implementation implications based on studies, the development of policy instruments to allow diffusion in the short market, and the maintenance of investment in renewable energies in the long term; (11) acceptance mapping for the construction of new renewable energy plants; (12) policies for more positive attitudes and fewer protest intentions; (13) the improvement of the growth of social stock due to the generation of renewable energies; (14) the improvement of the security of the domestic energy supply and waste recovery. (15) reducing greenhouse gases and improving institutional investment conditions, advisable policy instruments, and economic and fiscal incentives; (16) the improvement of knowledge regarding financial resource management, the minimization of environmental degradation, the encouragement and use of renewable energies, the monitoring of energy and environmental efficiency for OECD cooperation, climate change as an object of international policy, and the development of NCR projects; (17) the use of alternatives to prioritize renewable energy sources (petrochemical industry and the production of renewable fertilizers; the use of abundant biomass to give priority to other renewable energy sources; and agriculture returning to an economy based on stakeholder cooperation between value chains; and (18) the programming of the global bio economy to achieve the main premise of the CE. ...
... The relevant proportion reveals the moment of transition experienced in large economies, which achieve a CE and seek development mechanisms, such as the approach based on the monitoring and control of the energy sector, carried out by Doblinger et al. [59], in Germany, who presented the effects of public policies towards stimulating the demand for technology and the increase in innovation capacity through partnerships with research associations. [7], [9], [12], [13], [15], [16], [18], [19], [20], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [49], [51], [52], [53], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], [65], [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [71], [72], [73], [74], [75], [76], [77], [78], [79], [80], [81], [82], [83], [84], [85], [86], [87], [88], [89], [90], [91], [92], [93]). ...
The development and implementation of public policies towards renewable energies are crucial in order to address the contemporary challenges faced by humanity. The 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle), as a circular economic practice, are often cited as one of the best solutions for sustainable development. Therefore, this study analyzed public policies for renewable energy from the perspective of the circular economy. Accordingly, a systematic review of the literature was carried out with respect to the beneficiaries and convergences of circularities, with a focus on public policies for renewable energies. The sample had public policies classified into three types (distributive, redistributive, and regulatory policies). The results showed that the first studies began in 1999, with a significant increase in publications during the 2010s, in which Germany was the country with the greatest contribution. The analyses associated with space showed the countries committed to the use of renewable energies and the 3Rs of the circular economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The economic analyses revealed that the circular economy for the generation of renewable energy has a positive economic return in terms of social well-being and the mitigation of environmental degradation. There is a barrier to the circular economy’s development posed by the cost of its implementation in the private sector and the resistance to raising awareness in society, requiring strong public sector engagement in decision making and the constant evaluation of public policies. It is concluded that the circular economy facilitates more efficient, productive structures and public policies, promoting alternatives for energy security and sustainability for the world energy matrix.
... For European countries, Mihai et al. [29] examine the development of a few key macroeconomic indicators related to the CE in the energy division. The study concludes that there must be a direct correlation between GDP and renewable resources; as the share of renewable energy increases, so does GDP. ...
... Moreover, Hysa et al. [3] find a positive and robust association between CE and economic growth. Mihai et al. [29] explore the development of some important indicators regarding the CE in the energy sector in Europe. Evidence from Shafiei and Salim [31] and Sarwar [32] demonstrates that adopting renewable energy reduces CO 2 emissions. ...
Adopting a circular economy (CE) can play a role in achieving economic sustainability for all countries. Material and production waste must be recycled to make better use of limited resources. Developments in the CE need to transition linear economies into circular ones. Although the CE has a role in reaching economic sustainability, few studies have investigated the effect of transitioning to a CE in emerging economies. Thus, it is critical to examine the effect of circular economic influences on economic growth. This paper analyses particular indicators of the CE in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The analysis employs econometric techniques such as unit root tests, random-effect models, and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to examine different components, including environmental, social, and economic. Panel data are used to determine the dependency of circular economic factors on economic growth in GCC countries. The data was collected from the World Bank database covering the years 2000 to 2020. The paper is based on the analysis of the CE filed in GCC countries and intends to contribute to the studies in the field. The results gained from the GCC situation are valuable for both emerging and developing countries looking to include sustainable development measures in their policies and regulations. The findings highlight the importance of the CE to sustainability within GCC countries. This investigation of CE indicators based on the results of the economic model contributes to the empirical literature on the transition to a CE in emerging and developing countries.
... Remanufacturing, which refers to the industrial process of restoring used products or parts to like-new condition, has become to be a more and more important part of the circular economy (Mihai et al., 2018), [1]. It also has been applied to various products such as automotive parts, electrical and electronics products, machinery, information and communication equipment, ink and toner cartridges, medical devices and furniture (Yoon and Joung, 2019; Davidavičienė et al., 2019, Yoon and Joung 2021), [2][3][4]. ...
... Remanufacturing, which refers to the industrial process of restoring used products or parts to like-new condition, has become to be a more and more important part of the circular economy (Mihai et al., 2018), [1]. It also has been applied to various products such as automotive parts, electrical and electronics products, machinery, information and communication equipment, ink and toner cartridges, medical devices and furniture (Yoon and Joung, 2019; Davidavičienė et al., 2019, Yoon and Joung 2021), [2][3][4]. ...
In this paper, we study the core acquisition and remanufacturing problem in which the remanufactured products are produced from acquired cores with uncertain quality condition, and are used to satisfy customer demand. Decision-making models are developed to examine the potential value of core sorting and quality grading in the remanufacturing system: a single-period model with deterministic demand, and a single-period model with stochastic demand (i.e., a newsvendor-type model). In each model, both the sorting strategy and the non-sorting strategy are discussed and compared. Our theoretical and numerical results show that: (1) In the deterministic demand case, core sorting is cost-effective only when the unit sorting cost is below a threshold value and the unit acquisition cost falls into a specific interval. Furthermore, in the case with two quality grades the adoption of sorting strategy with respect to the expected fraction of high-quality cores may be non-monotone: an initial increase in the expected fraction of high-quality cores may motivate a switch to core sorting, however, further increase in the expected fraction may motivate a reverse switch; (2) Similarly, in the stochastic demand case, the sorting strategy also becomes unattractive when the unit sorting cost is sufficiently high. In addition, the value of core sorting will be better off under more fluctuating demand for remanufactured products if the sorting strategy is the dominant strategy. Otherwise, it will be worse off.
... In addition, MWM generates business opportunities, which implies the appearance of new companies in the business ecosystem of each country, as well as new jobs [77][78][79]. This is especially the case in the European Union due to the economic policy [80][81][82][83]. The European Commission published n 2020 the new circular economy action plan that presents a key part of the European Green Deal, and that emphasises the prominence of municipal waste management [84]. ...
... The European Commission published n 2020 the new circular economy action plan that presents a key part of the European Green Deal, and that emphasises the prominence of municipal waste management [84]. So, there are strong connections between waste management and the circular economy due to business opportunities used by different entrepreneurs in order to recycle and reuse certain materials [81,[85][86][87]. ...
The challenges imposed by climate change and the limited nature of resources generate paradigm shifts at the level of economic, social, and environmental policies and strategies. Promoting the principles of sustainable development and the circular economy is a priority worldwide. Thus, the motivation of this research is to explore the European countries' path toward sustainable development by analysing the relationship between green environment, economic growth, and circular economy issues. In order to explore this relationship in the case of European countries, the analysis takes into consideration specific variables: final energy consumption, GDP, capital gross fixed capital formation, greenhouse gas emissions, SOx emissions, NOx emissions, and generation of municipal waste per capita. This study is focused on the period 2009-2020 for 31 European countries, with data being provided by Eurostat and World Bank databases. The panel data analysis was used in order to examine the relationship between a green environment, economic growth and a circular economy. The results of the study suggest that gross fixed capital formation and total greenhouse gas emissions lead to decreasing generation of municipal waste; instead, final energy consumption, GDP, SOx emissions and NOx emissions generate an increase in the generation of municipal waste. The novelty of our paper consists of associating green environment, economic growth, and circular economy in the case of European countries, the results allowing the proposal of economic policy measures to favor the green transition process considering the potential of the circular economy.
... Interesting and influential research with insights on the circular economy and renewable energy correlations and developments in the EU is (Mihai et al., 2018). Another important research is (Hysa et al., 2020), using five major CE indicators to model and measure the effect of circular economy innovation on economic growth. ...
Circular economy represents the reuse of products that have reached the end of their life cycle by repairing them or transforming them into recycled raw materials. This way, the consumption of resources and energy needed for the production of new equipment can be diminished and in time waste generation can be reduced. The main objective of this research is to identify a regional hierarchy of the EU member states according to the circular economy indicators. Several relevant monitoring indicators for the circular economy evolution were analyzed, namely generated municipal waste, circular material use rate, packaging recycling rate, biodegradable waste recycling rate, circular economy investment, circular economy innovation, and rate of WEEE recycling. The methodology used includes a literature review, former research outputs analyzed for the objective of this research, and dynamic and comparative statistical analysis on the evolution of relevant indicators at the level of five EU geographical regions. The results of the research highlighted the fact that, at regional level, the circular economy has a fragmented distribution. Consequently, a number of regions, and implicitly the member states that form that region, recorded higher values for some indicators and lower or average values for other indicators.
... They can be used productively again and again, creating additional value. Measures leading to a circular economy include reusing, repairing, renewing, and recycling existing materials and products [10,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. ...
The cement-based mixture market or dry mix for the ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System) is a highly competitive market and it is becoming increasingly difficult to comply with European sustainability specifications such as the development of products with a lower carbon footprint, lighter and less energy-intensive materials, lower environmental impacts, the option of recycling, etc. This market plays a highly important role in the construction sector, not only for the technical solutions and green innovation it offers but also for the aesthetic aspects. Since 2005, this market has been growing by more than 20% per year, which makes it increasingly attractive with better opportunities. However, this increase has been reduced not only by the crisis of 2007-2008 but also by the pandemic of recent years. The use of cement type CEM II, 42.5R, B-LL, together with a modified RDP ratio, has visibly improved the properties of the thermal insulation system through the adhesion of the EPS boards, the modulus of elasticity, wear resistance, flexibility, and impact resistance. Our research results as green innovation products are above the minimum values agreed by the ETICS standards; in addition, this product has in its formulation a 30% lower carbon footprint compared to any other adhesive in the construction market applied for ETICS systems; therefore, we are talking about a sustainable and clean product, suitable for rehabilitations and ecological constructions adjusted to the European policies of carbon footprint reduction.
... Nowadays, MSW is one of the key components of circular economy; this concept is being forged by national authorities in order to be in line with the so-called Paris Agreement Pires and Martinho 2019;El Chaarani and Raimi 2021;Mehrotra and Jaladi 2022;Apostu et al. 2022;Panait et al. 2022;Popescu et al. 2022). In European Union countries, circular economy has been well promoted by authorities (European Commission 2015) as response to increasing resource shortage and as a driver for the transition to a more sustainable economy system (Zamfir et al. 2017;Mihai et al. 2018;CE 2020). The waste management is considered to be a solution of sustainable resources management which promote the principles of the circular economy, provides new energy, increases energy efficiency, and reduces the dependence on imported resource. ...
This study aims to identify macroeconomic indicators that can be used as predictors of waste management on the European continent. The study was conducted taking in account the intensification of urbanizations, the increase of standard of leaving that fuels to consumerism phenomenon, and imposed challenges for waste management. The research focuses on the interval from 2010 to 2020 for 37 European countries grouped according to EU15/EU28/non-EU and EU/non-EU members. As macroeconomic indicators, human development index (HDI), GDP/capita. GNI/capita, general government expenditure with environment protection, people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, population by educational attainment level, sex, and age (%)-less than primary, primary and lower secondary education (levels 0-2) were used. A multilinear regression model with collinearity diagnosis was applied to find out the direction and intensity of the contribution of independent variables and to hierarchy the predictors of waste management.. For multiple comparison between and inside of each grouping of countries, statistical inference methods were used: one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test multiple comparisons and independent samples Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's post hoc test. The main conclusions of the study are that EU15 countries have the highest average values for most indicators of waste management, comparative with EU28 and with non-EU countries, followed by a group of EU28 countries. For indicators of recycling rate of packaging waste by type of packaging metallic and recycling rate of e-waste, the non-EU countries have the highest values of mean compared with the EU15 and EU28 groups of countries. This can be explained by the high level of development of the some non-euro area countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein) that have intense concerns about waste recycling and have the necessary financial strength to carry out complex environmental protection programs.
Rural Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems (RHRES) have the potential to assist in the realization of an energy circular economy. Considering the circular economy concept, the study establishes a multi-participant collaborative operation mode and benefit cycle mechanism based on Nash bargaining theory. The alternating direction method of multipliers is used to decompose the model into the alliance benefit maximization and the energy trading payment bargaining for a distributed solution. Our results show that the increase in benefits for each participant is 11.96%, 66.31%, and 8.06%, respectively. It is verified that the model can consider the interests of both participants and alliances. At the same time, the energy trading strategy of each participant can ensure the use of the price difference of the time-sharing tariff to obtain value-added revenue. The proposed RHRES multi-participant collaborative operation optimization model realizes the energy cycle of the rural energy system, and the value-added cycle of economic benefits in each subject is realized simultaneously.
The paper aims to highlight the most relevant elements that appear at the intersection of two concepts: the circular economy and electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), as they are reflected in the mainstream of scientific publications to date. This approach is possible through the use of a bibliometric study, following which current trends and new possible perspectives and research directions could be identified to contribute to the promotion of circularity in the production and consumption of EEE. The bibliometric study also involves the temporal and geographical analysis of scientific production, the semantic analysis of keywords with their graphical representation, and the relationship among them, based on the use of specialised software (VOSViewer and Citespace). The main results refer to the existence of four clusters, grouped according to keywords with a frequency of occurrence greater than 10, which refer to EEE waste management, circular economy, material recycling, and environmental management. Regarding the intensity of keyword use, the top three places are China, product, and urban mining. In the end, the conclusions of the study are highlighted, including the grouping of keywords into thematic clusters, the identification of three periods that have been able to stand out so far in scientific research in the domain. As for the limits of the research, they take into account the database that was subjected to the analysis (in the present paper, Web of Science), the software used, the writing language of the scientific production, and the analysis interval. The article concludes with future research directions.
The 1st of January 2007 marked Romania's accession to the European Union (EU) and represented its 'ticket' to a free access to the common market. This soon evolved into an important trigger for the increased migration flows from Romania towards the more developed western countries, members of the EU. Not only the opportunity of a free movement of persons - emerged with the integration - but also the existing socio-economic disparities between Romania and the more developed western countries in the EU, led to unidirectional migration flows. Using both static and dynamic panel gravity models, we aim to identify the main determinants of Romanians' migration towards 10 EU member states - Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Sweden - for the period 2007-2014. Our empirical findings support the results of other studies performed on different economies. The most important pull factor for Romanians' migration is represented by the economic conditions in the destination countries, proxied by the GDP/capita. Other important pull factors fuelling Romanians' migration refer to the unemployment rate, life expectancy, education spending, and population density. A key role is also played by the existing social networks in the destination countries which are proxied in our model by the lagged migration flows.
Using nonhazardous wastes as inputs to production creates environmental benefits by avoiding disposal impacts, mitigating manufacturing impacts, and conserving virgin resources. China has incentivized reuse since the 1980s through the "Comprehensive Utilization of Resources (CUR)" policy. To test whether and to what extent environmental benefits are generated, 862 instances in Jiangsu, China are analyzed, representing eight industrial sectors and 25 products that qualified for tax relief through CUR. Benefits are determined by comparing life cycle inventories for the same product from both standard and CUR-certified production, adjusted for any difference in the use phase. More than 50 million tonnes of solid wastes were reused, equivalent to 51% of the provincial industrial total. Benefits included reduction of 161 petajoules of energy, 23 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 75,000 tonnes of SO2 equivalent, 33,000 tonnes of NOX¬, and 28,000 tonnes of PM10 equivalent, which were 2.5%-7.3% of the provincial industrial consumption and emissions. The benefits vary substantially across industries, among products within the same industry, and when comparing alternative processes for the same waste. In this first assessment of CUR, results show that CUR has established a firm foundation for a circular economy, but also suggest additional opportunities to refine incentives under CUR to increase environmental gain.
Purpose-The overall aim of this paper is to develop a new conceptual framework for business model innovation in a circular economy and to explore the reasons for consumer non-adoption of business models in this context. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on existing work in mostly professional or for-business publications and develops a conceptual model by clustering and abstraction. For developing hypotheses on motives for consumer non-adoption the author refers to existing empirical research in various related fields. Findings – The first part of the paper demonstrates that, despite wording differences, a predominant agreement on a basic structure for new business models in a circular economy has emerged in the field. The second part provides evidence that the adoption of circular economy business models will depend upon changing consumer habits and routines by leveraging the impact of non-functional motives, as well as subjective and moral norms. Practical implications – For practitioners working on new innovative business models in the realm of the circular economy this paper provides a basic framework for clustering their concepts. By learning about consumer motives leading to non-adoption, this paper also provides support for designing better and more successful business models. Originality/value – This paper develops a new holistic framework for the emerging topic of circular economy business models.
Our analysis ascertains the particularities of international relations forecasting. This particular type of forecasting peruses especially complex subjects, conjoined with political, economic and military overtones. The particularities of this domain lie in the multitude of variables employed, as well as in the rather unparagoned contexts placed under the theoretical microscope. Despite the methodological difficulties characteristic for this area of expertise, international relations global forecasting products are immensely appreciated in the market. As a result, several companies have succeeded in creating powerful brands -Stratfor is an instance of this. But do the Stratfor Decade Forecasts survive the test of time? And, if inadvertences occur, which are the culprits? The case study we propose aims to examine these very issues. © 2018, Institute for Economic Forecasting. All rights reserved.
Longitudinal surveys are surveys that involve collecting data from multiple subjects on multiple occasions. They are typically used for collecting data relating to social, economic, educational and health-related issues and they serve as an important tool for economists, sociologists, and other researchers. Focusing on the design, implementation and analysis of longitudinal surveys, Methodology of Longitudinal Surveys discusses the current state of the art in carrying out these surveys. The book also covers issues that arise in surveys that collect longitudinal data via retrospective methods. Aimed at researchers and practitioners analyzing data from statistical surveys the book will also be suitable as supplementary reading for graduate students of survey statistics. This book: Covers all the main stages in the design, implementation and analysis of longitudinal surveys. Reviews recent developments in the field, including the use of dependent interviewing and mixed mode data collection. Discusses the state of the art in sampling, weighting and non response adjustment. Features worked examples throughout using real data. Addresses issues arising from the collection of data via retrospective methods, as well as ethical issues, confidentiality and non-response bias. Is written by an international team of contributors consisting of some of the most respected Survey Methodology experts in the field.
The concept of circular economy (CE) is to an increasing extent treated as a solution to series of challenges such as waste generation, resource scarcity and sustaining economic benefits. However the concept of circularity is not of novel as such. Specific circumstances and motivations have stimulated ideas relevant to circularity in the past through activities such as reuse, remanufacturing or recycling. Main objectives of this work are: to provide a comprehensive review of research efforts encompassing aspects of resources scarcity, waste generation and economic advantages; to explore the CE landscape in the context of these three aspects especially when they are considered simultaneously; based on an idea of a comprehensive CE framework, propose an implementation strategy using top-down and bottom-up approach in a concurrent manner. To fulfill this objective a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art research is carried out to understand different ideas relevant to CE, motivation for the research and context of their recurrence. Main contributions of this paper are a comprehensive CE framework and a practical implementation strategy for a regenerative economy and natural environment. The framework emphasizes on a combined view of three main aspects i.e. environment, resources and economic benefits. It also underlines that joint support of all stakeholders is necessary in order to successfully implement the CE concept at large scale. The proposed framework and implementation strategy also identify new avenues for future research and practice in the field of CE.
Utilizing renewable energy in buildings helps to reduce consumption of conventional energy and to achieve low carbon economy. The past decades have witnessed a rapid development of renewable energy in buildings globally. China is no exception. The policies, regulations and strategic plans related to renewable energy in buildings are critically analyzed in this study with an aim to present an integrated policy framework. Furthermore, the current situation of utilizing various types of renewable energy resources in buildings and main barriers are discussed. Finally the development plan for renewable energy in buildings is presented according to the national policies. This study offers a comprehensive and systematic reference for the renewable energy in buildings in China.
