Exploratory Study on Circular Economy Approaches A Comparative Analysis of Theory and Practice

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7

Conclusion

7 Conclusion

This final chapter of the dissertation concludes with a critical view on circular

economy. Lastly, the entailed limitations of this study are provided, and, with those

in mind, suggestions for further research are made.

7.1 Critical View on Circular Economy

7.1 Critical View on Circular Economy

The concept of circular economy is more often celebrated than critically interro-

gated. Publications highlight the benefits and only rarely depict the challenges and

weaknesses associated with the concept. In literature, there exists almost no criticism

on the circular economy concept itself. Criticism can only be found regarding the

implementation of the concept (see Gregson et al. 2015). This chapter will introduce

three points bringing the concept itself into question.

First, the circular economy concept requires major changes in the way the

economy is working today. This raises concerns regarding the practicability of the

concept. The implementation of an economy in which products are solely made

out of materials which either are biodegradable (biological cycle) or are reused

(technical cycle) requires a global reverse-logistic infrastructure. Organizations

act on a global-scale and sell their products to customers around the world. In

order to reuse the material, organizations need to acquire possession of it, and a

reverse-logistics infrastructure is necessary. This leads to the next change: a circular

economy needs contributing customers. Only if customers are willing to return the

products despite the effort the concept is able to work. These are just two examples of

necessary changes, but there are plenty necessary changes in order to entirely switch

the economy to a circular one. This is seen as a downside of the concept because it

is very challenging to change the economy as a whole in such a tremendous way.

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2018
L. Frodermann, Exploratory Study on Circular EconomyApproaches,
Wirtschaftsethik in der globalisierten Welt, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-21949-9_7