Exploring the social dimension of Circular Economy

Circular Economy (CE) has been promoted as an alternative concept to linear economy. It has been seen as a response to the increasing resource scarcity and as a driver of the transition to a more sustainable economic system.... [ view full abstract ]

Circular Economy (CE) has been promoted as an alternative concept to linear economy. It has been seen as a response to the increasing resource scarcity and as a driver of the transition to a more sustainable economic system. CE has been translated into the business realm by a variety of approaches and ideas such as industrial symbiosis or closed loop supply chains. These concepts share major principles, i.e. increasing resource efficiency, extending product life cycles or closing material and nutrient cycles. The predominant focus in CE approaches is clearly on the environmental and economic dimension, whereas social aspects — such as labour practices, human rights, or community well-being — have only been peripherally and sporadically integrated into the CE concept so far. Against this background, this paper aims at investigating the social dimension as part of the CE concept in an in-depth way. By means of a systematic literature review, we identify relevant peer-reviewed English-speaking research papers at the intersection of CE and the social dimension of sustainability, and analyse them along a generic theoretical framework comprising the criteria of disciplinary affiliation, research method, conceptual and theoretical framing, unit of analysis, and subject coverage. The literature review approach allows for mapping the extant intellectual territory at the interface of social aspects and the CE. It represents the groundwork for evaluating the current level of conceptual integration and for exploring reasons for rather low levels of conceptual connectivity and compatibility, in particular provenience from specific (academic and political) discourses as well as differing conceptual ‘grammars’. The paper concludes by discussing opportunities and pitfalls of strengthening the social dimension of the CE by cross-fertilisation through other apposite concepts such as the emerging concept of the sharing economy. The paper contributes to the debate on how to advance the CE concept towards a genuine sustainability paradigm that equally considers the economic, environmental and social dimension.

Keywords: Circular Economy, sustainability paradigm, social issues, conceptual integration, literature review.