We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Reconciling Waste Management and Ecological Economics
ClearWaste Management, Circular Economy and Life Cycle Assessment
This presentation examines research strategies and analytical approaches for integrating life cycle assessment methodologies with circular economy principles and waste management practices.
Redefining Ecological Engineering in the Context of Circular Economy and Sustainable Development
This conceptual paper proposed a redefined framework for ecological engineering grounded in circular economy principles, arguing that engineering interventions in natural systems should aim to close material loops and enhance ecosystem services rather than simply solving pollution problems after the fact.
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.
A Circular Economy: Where Will It Take Us?
This review critically examines the circular economy — a model that aims to eliminate waste by keeping materials in use — questioning whether it reliably delivers environmental and social benefits. The author argues that while circular economy approaches can be good for business, definitive evidence that they reduce resource extraction and improve social equity is still lacking.
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.
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.
From closed to open systems
This review examines the contradiction between Circular Economy principles — which implicitly pursue constant economic growth via cleaner technologies — and the ecological reality that all living systems, including organisations, are open systems dependent on planetary boundaries, arguing that integrating ecological values into strategic decision-making is necessary to address biocapacity decline and biodiversity loss.
The Frontier of Plastics Recycling: Rethinking Waste as a Resource for High‐Value Applications
This review examines the current state and future prospects of plastics recycling within a circular economy framework, arguing that mechanical recycling alone is insufficient and that chemical recycling, design-for-recyclability, and extended producer responsibility must all be scaled simultaneously. The authors identify high-value applications for recycled plastics as essential incentives for building economically sustainable recycling systems.
Strategies for efficient management of microplastics to achieve life cycle assessment and circular economy
This review examines strategies for managing microplastic waste through a circular economy and life cycle assessment (LCA) lens, arguing that current recycling practices and waste disposal methods are inadequate given the sheer volume of plastics entering ecosystems. The authors propose a conceptual framework integrating LCA principles into microplastic management to better quantify ecological risks and guide more sustainable plastic use policies.
An Integrated Analysis of Plastic Packaging Value Chain: Identifying Barriers and Enablers for a Circular Economy
Researchers analyzed the full plastic packaging value chain to identify barriers and enablers for transitioning to a circular economy, tracing the evolution of circular economy concepts and quantifying the environmental impacts associated with exponential plastic waste growth. The study provides an integrated framework mapping opportunities for intervention across production, use, collection, and recycling stages.
Circular Plastics Economy: Redesigning Technology and Reimagining Society
This book examines the concept of a circular plastics economy, arguing that technical redesign of materials must be paired with societal transformation to address plastic waste at scale. The authors critique current approaches and propose a more integrated vision combining innovation with behavioral and governance change.
Towards a circular economy that begins and ends in nature
This policy paper argues that a truly circular economy must be designed with nature in mind, ensuring that economic activity restores rather than degrades biodiversity, including addressing plastic pollution as a key concern.
Circularity in Practice: Review of Main Current Approaches and Strategic Propositions for an Efficient Circular Economy of Materials
This review proposes a structured framework for classifying circular economy strategies — including reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, and biological cycles — and evaluates their current adoption and barriers to scaling toward genuinely circular material flows.
Management Strategies for Plastic Wastes: A Roadmap Toward Circular Economy and Environmental Sustainability
This chapter reviews strategies for managing plastic waste — including mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and circular economy frameworks — as alternatives to landfilling and incineration. Unmanaged plastic waste breaks down into microplastics that spread widely through wind and water, making better upstream management critical for reducing environmental contamination. The authors argue that genuinely circular approaches, where waste is eliminated rather than merely shifted, offer the most effective path to reducing long-term microplastic pollution.
Solid waste management in the context of the waste hierarchy and circular economy frameworks: An international critical review
This review evaluates global solid waste management practices through the lens of the waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle) and circular economy principles. The authors found that while high-income countries have advanced waste systems, low- and middle-income nations face major challenges including inadequate infrastructure and plastic pollution. The study highlights how poorly managed plastic waste contributes to environmental contamination, including the generation of microplastics.
A systems thinking approach to understanding the challenges of achieving the circular economy
This paper used a systems thinking approach to identify the challenges blocking implementation of circular economy principles, going beyond the commonly discussed benefits to analyze the structural and societal barriers. It found that complex interdependencies between economic actors, infrastructure, regulation, and consumer behavior collectively obstruct circular economy transitions.
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.
Circular economy, bioeconomy, and sustainable development goals: a systematic literature review
Researchers conducted a systematic review of 649 studies examining how circular economy and bioeconomy concepts contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. They found that while these approaches show promise for addressing environmental challenges including plastic waste, most research has focused on a limited set of goals and lacks empirical data. The study identifies key research gaps, including the need for more studies on economic and social impacts in developing countries.
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.
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.
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.
System innovation and life cycle thinking in packaging value chain: the circularity of plastics.
This paper examines the role of circular economy principles in reducing plastic packaging waste, noting that despite existing recycling systems, plastics remain pervasive environmental contaminants. The authors argue that redesigning packaging systems for recyclability and reducing over-packaging are essential steps to address microplastic pollution at its source.
From Lines to Circles: reshaping waste policy
This review examines global waste problems through the lens of circular economy and zero waste theory, diagnosing the inadequacy of linear 'take-make-waste' systems and reviewing New Zealand's early steps toward a circular economy following its government commitment to this vision. The authors argue for an ambitious, integrated policy approach to avoid lock-in of inadequate waste management infrastructure.
Research on Application of Environmental Protection Concept in Modern Product Design
This paper explores how principles of environmental sustainability are being integrated into modern product design, examining how green design concepts can reduce ecological impact while meeting consumer needs. The analysis calls for applying low-carbon, circular economy values throughout the product development process.