Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Towards a Just Circular Economy Transition: the Case of European Plastic Waste Trade to Vietnam for Recycling

Researchers examined how half of Europe's collected plastic waste is shipped to countries like Vietnam for recycling without adequate oversight, arguing that this practice shifts environmental and health burdens to lower-income nations and calling for a justice-focused global framework to govern plastic waste trade.

2024 Circular Economy and Sustainability 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Approaches for a Circular Economy in European Union and Its Effects in Third Countries: Promoting a Values-based Dialogue Between the EU and Latin America?

This study examines the tension between the European Union's circular economy strategies and its practice of exporting plastic waste to third countries, arguing through qualitative bibliographical research that the EU must align its external plastic waste policies with its founding values in order to serve as a credible leader in global plastics treaty negotiations.

2024 Spanish Journal of Legislative Studies
Article Tier 2

European Circular Economy Policy-Making in Sustainability and Resource Management Development

This study analyzed the development of circular economy policy across EU countries using circularity indicators, finding that high circularity scores do not necessarily correlate with lower environmental impact. The EU as a whole consumes the majority of global materials and generates 43% of emissions, highlighting gaps between circularity metrics and actual sustainability.

2024 International Journal of Mathematical Engineering and Management Sciences 4 citations
Article Tier 2

A systematic analysis of European markers of balanced environmental management under the conditions of economic circularity

Researchers analyzed European environmental management markers under circular economy conditions, examining environmental pollution indicators including microplastics and proposing an iron oxide-based technological method for treating wastewater contaminated with estrogens, microplastics, and oil.

2024 Agroecological journal
Article Tier 2

Environmental Taxation and the Circular Economy: What Are the Prospects in the European Context?

This review examines the potential of environmental taxation frameworks in the European Union to accelerate the transition from linear to circular economic models. The authors argue that a shift from fiscally neutral taxation to a circular taxation paradigm — integrating waste reduction incentives and production sustainability targets — is essential for enabling ecological transition and competitive industrial innovation.

2024 Białostockie Studia Prawnicze
Article Tier 2

The Circular Economy in EU Policy as a Response to Contemporary Ecological Challenges

This article reviews how EU countries are implementing circular economy policies and progress toward reducing plastic waste, finding large variation across member states. Shifting from linear to circular plastic economies is critical for reducing the production of waste that generates microplastics.

2019 Gospodarka Narodowa 12 citations
Article Tier 2

European environment policy for the circular economy: Implications for business and industry stakeholders

This review evaluates recent European Union circular economy policies and their implications for businesses seeking to reduce environmental impact through sustainable production and supply chain practices. It identifies both opportunities and challenges for companies attempting to implement circular economy principles in compliance with new EU environmental directives.

2020 Sustainable Development 210 citations
Article Tier 2

Economia circulară și recuperarea deșeurilor din plastic prin reciclare în Moldova

This paper examines plastic waste management and circular economy challenges in the Republic of Moldova, a country with low recycling rates and significant environmental contamination from inadequate waste infrastructure. The analysis identifies barriers to improving plastic recovery and highlights the intersection of economic development with environmental sustainability.

2023
Article Tier 2

Turning waste into opportunity: Advancing circular and equitable waste management

This chapter examines global waste management challenges, reviewing circular economy frameworks, equity considerations, and the environmental and social consequences of inadequate waste handling, with emphasis on plastic waste and its downstream microplastic effects.

2025 Indonesian Journal of Applied Environmental Studies
Article Tier 2

Rethinking plastic recycling: A comparison between North America and Europe

Researchers compared plastic recycling rates and infrastructure between North America and the European Union, arguing that higher EU landfill and incineration costs create economic incentives for recycling that have driven greater industrial innovation and cleaner polymer streams — while both regions continue to rely on opaque offshore export as a de facto disposal method.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Transformation of Municipal Waste Management in Poland Towards a Circular Economy

Researchers examined the transformation of municipal waste management in Poland following EU accession, tracing the shift from landfill-dominated disposal toward selective collection and circular economy frameworks, and identifying remaining structural challenges in achieving closed-loop waste management.

2023 Rocznik Ochrona Środowiska 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Reconciling Waste Management and Ecological Economics

Researchers examined how the concept of the "circular economy" — designing products and systems to minimize waste — fits within ecological economics, which emphasizes physical limits like energy and material flows. The chapter argues that effective waste management policies, such as landfill taxes, extended producer responsibility, and deposit-refund schemes, must align environmental costs with economic incentives to achieve meaningful sustainability gains.

2023 Studies in ecological economics 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Are Soft Legal Measures in Circular Economy Action Plans Enough to Permeate EU Strong Economic Core Regulations Bringing Systemic Sustainable Change?

Researchers conducted a legal analysis of the European Union's 2015 and 2020 Circular Economy Action Plans, examining whether these policy frameworks are designed to drive genuine systemic change or are constrained by market-oriented economic principles. The study finds that most measures rely on soft, voluntary approaches that may not be strong enough to overcome the EU's core economic regulations prioritizing growth over sustainability.

2022 Circular Economy and Sustainability 4 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review on sustainable hazardous waste management strategies: a step towards a circular economy

Researchers review global strategies for managing hazardous industrial and household waste — including chemicals, heavy metals, and electronic waste — with a focus on aligning disposal practices with circular economy principles that minimize environmental and health harm. The review finds that prevention, recycling, and advanced treatment technologies must work together, guided by stronger international policy frameworks.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 74 citations
Article Tier 2

The Analyzing of Social Economic Impacted By Optimalization Of Recycling Waste As Supported For Circular Economy On Community-Based Tourism In Pasaran Island

Researchers investigated how waste recycling initiatives on Pasaran Island, Indonesia, created alternative livelihoods — particularly for women — finding that optimizing organic and plastic waste management generated approximately 50% profit margins and contributed to improved social and environmental conditions.

2023 JESI (Jurnal Ekonomi Syariah Indonesia) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic waste as a challenge for sustainable development and circularity in the European Union

This review examines the plastic waste crisis in the European Union, evaluating gaps between recycling policy ambitions and actual outcomes. It argues that without major improvements in waste management infrastructure and circular economy practices, plastics will continue to fragment into microplastics and contaminate European ecosystems.

2020 Ekonomia i Prawo 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Zero Waste––Zero Justice?

This critical essay examines the zero waste movement through a social justice lens, asking whose voices and realities are centered in anti-plastic activism and whose are marginalized. It argues that reducing plastic pollution must address systemic inequalities as well as individual consumption choices.

2020 Engaging Science Technology and Society 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Avrupa Bi̇rli̇ği̇ Ve Türki̇ye Mevzuati Ve Uygulamasinin Deni̇z Çöpü Problemi̇ Bağlaminda Değerlendi̇ri̇lmesi̇

This paper evaluates how European Union and Turkish law address the problem of marine litter, including microplastics. It finds gaps in current regulatory frameworks and argues for stronger, more coordinated policy to prevent plastic waste from reaching the ocean.

2021 OpenMETU (Middle East Technical University)
Systematic Review Tier 1

Plastic Waste in Romania: Between European Union Commitments and Actual Realities

This systematic review examines Romania's plastic waste management challenges in meeting European Union circular economy goals. It finds significant gaps between EU recycling targets and actual national performance, with issues in waste collection infrastructure and policy enforcement. The findings highlight how plastic waste mismanagement contributes to environmental pollution, including microplastic contamination of water and soil.

2025 Applied Sciences
Article Tier 2

Toxic growth in the circular economy: is the EU Plastics Strategy a bad policy?

Researchers traced the relational history of the European Commission's Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, examining whether this flagship plastics governance policy effectively addresses the growing global plastics problem. They argued that the strategy's circular economy framing may perpetuate 'toxic growth' by prioritizing recycling and reuse over fundamental production reduction, raising questions about the policy's adequacy as a response to plastic pollution.

2025 Policy Press eBooks
Article Tier 2

Global Plastic Pollution and the Transition Towards a Circular Economy: Lessons from the EU’s Legal Framework on Plastics

This paper reviews the EU legal framework on plastics and the transition toward a circular economy, examining how regulatory instruments including the Single-Use Plastics Directive and extended producer responsibility schemes can reduce the billions of tons of plastic waste generated annually.

2024 Environmental Policy and Law 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Transboundary movements of plastic waste from EU countries as a constraint for sustainability

This study examines the volume and destinations of plastic waste exports from EU countries under trade code 3915, finding that large quantities are shipped to less developed nations not subject to European environmental standards. The authors assess this 'waste tourism' against Basel Convention principles and Sustainable Development Goals, identifying transboundary plastic waste movements as a significant constraint on achieving a circular plastics economy.

2023 Ekonomia i Prawo 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Pengaruh Impor Sampah Plastik dari Belanda terhadap Keamanan Lingkungan di Indonesia

This study examined how plastic waste imports from the Netherlands affect environmental security in Indonesia, finding that cross-border waste trade exacerbates pollution and undermines Indonesia's domestic environmental regulations.

2025 SABER Jurnal Teknik Informatika Sains dan Ilmu Komunikasi
Article Tier 2

From Waste Pickers to Producers: An Inclusive Circular Economy Solution through Development of Cooperatives in Waste Management

This paper presented an inclusive circular economy framework centered on waste picker cooperatives in developing countries, arguing that integrating informal sector workers into formal plastic recycling systems improves both waste management outcomes and social equity, with case studies from Latin America and Africa illustrating successful models.

2021 Sustainability 66 citations