Mapping Discourses for the Dutch Circular Plastics Economy

This thesis aims to map circular plastics economy discourses in the Netherlands by analysing governance mechanisms, policies, and practices of the circular economy (CE) in the Dutch plastic sector.The CE became a popular discourse in the public and private sectors since the start of the 21 st century.In 2016, the Dutch government set the target to become fully circular by 2050.Especially, the plastic packaging sector gains a lot of attention as it accounts for most plastic waste generation (European Commission, 2018).However, many contested visions on the CE exist.On the one hand, it is often promoted as an economic opportunity including environmental benefits by market actors in particular, while more recently the social implications to achieve social justice and environmental sustainability are emphasised by civil society organisations.The absence of a holistic understanding of the CE results in a limited understanding of whether and how the transition to a circular plastics economy contributes to sustainability.Also, it is unclear how and which actor discourses are represented in Dutch society.This thesis aims to fill in this gap by a scientific literature review and discourse analysis using the Q methodology.This included a Dutch media (newspaper) analysis between 2010 and 2020, European and Dutch policy analysis between 2000 and 2020, stakeholder analysis, 24 semi-structured interviews with professionals in the plastics value chain, a survey, and statistical factor analysis.This research builds upon previous work from Friant, Vermeulen, and Salomone (2020) and analyses how well Dutch public and private discourses fit in their circularity discourse typology framework.Their initial findings show that current imaginaries of the CE are mainly based on Technocentric Circular Economy-based perspectives, and emphasise that other discourses of the CE are often underrepresented.This research reveals four Dutch societal discourses of which three have strong linkages with Technocentric Circular Economy propositions (Friant, et al., 2020), and one discourse which has linkages with a Transformational Circular Society proposition.Therefore, these outcomes affirm the findings of Friant, et al. (2020) in Dutch context.To support the transition to a circular plastics economy, recommendations are given on policy actions considered important by all identified perspectives.These include financial mechanisms to make recycled plastics more competitive with virgin fossil-based plastics, which also discourage incineration and establish a fund to finance R&D and innovations, as well as banning export plastic waste to outside the European Union.Most policy recommendations align with CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (2019), and also on the European level from research of Hartley, et al. (2020).With this respect, the findings and recommendations are relevant on the national as well as the international level.Overall, this thesis adds a theoretical and practical understanding of discourses involved in the transition to a Dutch circular plastic economy.v Preface It was during my bachelor's half-year internship in Curaao and one-year world trip in Oceania and South-East Asia, when I first became aware of the impact of plastics on the environment and quality of life of people.From diving 30 meters deep in the Caribbean and Asian seas, up to climbing volcanos of 4000 meters high, I was shocked about the environmental pollution of plastics as a result of poor waste management.Here, the need for more sustainable approaches became clear to me and the desire to do something about it, in particular in the circular economy.Ever since, I was continuously looking to improve my skills, knowledge, and expertise in this field, therefore, I enrolled in the MSc Sustainable Development program at the University of Utrecht.This master program provided me with a solid understanding of what Sustainable Development is including its controversies.During my study, I was very happy to receive the opportunity to do a tailor-made course which was aimed to study the circularity, governance, policies and practices of rubber tyres in the Netherlands.This project was in cooperation with three PhD students (including Martin) with Walter Vermeulen as supervisor of the research.In this project, I became familiar with the Dutch legislative framework and learned how the Dutch waste management system was organised for rubber tyres.After the successful completion of the tailor-made course, I wanted to do something similar for my master thesis but then focused on plastics.Walter and Martin provided me with this opportunity.This report is the final result for the completion of my MSc program Sustainable Development track Earth System Governance.The results will provide you with insights into common and contested societal perspectives, and policy actions considered important