No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Evaluating the Current Norwegian Clothing System and a Circular Alternative
... The transition to a Circular Economy (CE) in the textile and fashion industry has gained significant attention in recent years. The literature on textile recycling in a CE encompasses several key themes, including environmental sustainability (Mora-Sojo et al., 2023), consumer attitudes (Casson et al., 2023), supply chain management, and the role of technology in enabling circularity (Schmutz & Som, 2022). Recent studies have explored the challenges and dilemmas faced in transforming the fashion and textile industry, emphasizing the need for sustainable pathways and innovative design strategies to support circularity. ...
... Mutel, 2017). This approach does not constitute a full life cycle assessment, but an LCA screening approach similar to other footprint calculation approaches within the environmental assessment literature (Hung et al., 2020;Kaufman et al., 2010;Mora-Sojo et al., 2022;Song et al., 2017). ...
Norway is one of the countries in Europe generating the most waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) per capita. Extended producer responsibility schemes are incorporated as part of the national waste policy, with clear goals towards recovery of materials from the waste fraction. Investigating the WEEE flows in Norway, we observe clear improvements needed in the transparency of the sector, and based on the information gathered, we estimate lower recycling of materials than provided through official statistics based on reporting. 68% of WEEE sent to recycling treatments are recycled into reusable material. Accounting for WEEE occurring outside of the treatment system, only 58% is recovered for recycling. We also estimate the CO2-eq emissions of different End-of-Life treatments of WEEE, and the embodied CO2-equivalent emissions of each WEEE category, illustrating 1) what category carry the largest environmental burden with respect to its embedded materials, and 2) the environmental impact of specific treatment options within the system. We show how the recycling rate of precious metals have significant influence over the environmental impact recovery potential of the system. Its not just the amount of material that is recycled that is important, including a proxy for expended emissions effectively illustrates the need for more precise policy implementation to ensure a functional circular economy.
In the coming decade, the EU intends to intervene in the textile value chain to steer it towards sustainability and circularity. As part of this effort, post-consumer textile (PCT) management should align with the waste hierarchy. This study employs material flow analysis (MFA) to examine and compare PCT management in two European regions: Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands. Additionally, future scenarios provide insights into transformations of PCT management toward 2030. The results show that Flanders outperformed the Netherlands in 2018, with a higher share of PCTs being collected separately, going to product recovery, local reuse, and material recovery. However, in both regions, there is still much potential to increase the recovery of products or materials. In 2018, local reuse was at only 4 % in Flanders and 2 % in the Netherlands. Most materials were still lost through
incineration, with 52 % in Flanders and 62 % in the Netherlands. Even so, the future scenarios indicate that the
Netherlands’ greater policy ambitions, with specific targets aimed at higher circular strategies, such as local reuse and closed-loop recycling, can result in more circular PCT management toward 2030. Hence, when designing interventions, policymakers should go beyond targets on separate collection to successfully steer the
waste management of PCT toward circularity. This study shows how MFA-based monitoring provides a good overview of a specific system, allowing for a high level of transparency. Therefore, monitoring PCT management is key to developing informed policies and effective targets.
Policy aimed at transitioning from a linear to a circular economy by recycling has gained importance the last decade, with the waste management system being critical for this transition.
This study provides a detailed model of resource use and environmental impacts, combining material flow analysis and life cycle assessment of the full waste management chain for household municipal solid waste in Norway, constructing 18 circular economy indicators.
Results shows system improvements in terms of emissions due to an increase of recyclable material, residual waste diverted from landfills, and anaerobic digestion treatment of food waste. However, sustained waste generation with high shares of residual waste require incineration treatment.
In 2009, 49 % of generated MSW was incinerated, in 2019 the incineration rate increased to 65 % when accounting for sorting and recycling loss in the waste treatment chain. The potential for increased recycling rates is considerable, however, there are also constraints within the waste management system that needs attention if circularity policies are to become more effective.
The issue of low transparency is specifically highlighted in this study, as well as the importance of formulating and adopting meaningful circular economy indicators for the waste management system
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.