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

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Introduction

1 Introduction

“The future availability of natural resources – defined

here as food, water, energy, and minerals – is critically

important. All individuals and nations require them to

sustain current standards of living, as well as to increase

economic activity” (World Economic Forum 2014b, p. 5).

The perspectives on the future availability of natural resources are highly contest-

ed. The perceived risks of resource scarcity as well as the appropriate responses to

mitigate these risks differ between stakeholders, industries, and countries (World

Economic Forum 2014b). A report from the United Nations Environment Pro-

gram indicates an increase in the extraction of materials between the years 1900

and 2005 particularly for minerals (by factor 34), ores and industrial minerals (by

factor 27), and fossil energy (by factor 12) (United Nations Environment Program

2011). This was fueled by a rapid growth in demand which led to an increase in

prices, and erased reductions in commodity prices over the last 100 years (World

Economic Forum 2014b).

Due to complexities, uncertainties, and interconnected drivers of availability it

is almost impossible to predict the world’s future supply and demand of resources.

However, the necessity for a shift in social, political and economic patterns has

been acknowledged more and more by stakeholders. A perception has developed

that only by changing the current way of resource consumption and improving

resource efficiency, can a sufficient supply of natural resources be ensured, existing

biodiversity be protected, and sustainable growth for the global population be

enabled (Tukker 2013a; BIO Intelligence Service 2012; McKinsey&Company 2011;

European Commission 2011).

With the evolving concept of the “circular economy”, an answer can be offered

to this increasing demand because it aims to transform the function of resources

in an economy (Ma et al. 2015; Liu and Bai 2014; Mathews and Tan 2011; Feng

© 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_