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Opportunities and the Policy Challenges to the Circular Agri-Food System

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Book cover EU Bioeconomy Economics and Policies: Volume II

Part of the book series: Palgrave Advances in Bioeconomy: Economics and Policies ((PABEP))

Abstract

The circular economy is not a new concept in economics. Francois Quesnay and the Physiocrats of eighteenth-century France introduced the concept into economics. From a bio-chemical perspective, the law of conservation of mass needs to be considered implying mass can neither be created nor destroyed but allocated differently over time and space in a closed system similar to planet earth. Recently the concept of the circular economy received high policy attention. In the agri-food system the debates are related to issues such as reducing food waste and emissions in food production including greenhouse gases, recycling of food packaging materials and plastic in particular, and cascading use of food products including the use of fertilizing products.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This is not exactly correct according to the mass-energy equivalence, but for the chemical elements of interest such as carbon or nitrogen, this simplification is acceptable.

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References to EU Member States and Their Circular Economy-Related Policy Strategies/Actions

References to OECD Member States and Their Circular Economy-Related Policy Strategies/Actions

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Kutay Cingiz & Justus Wesseler

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  1. Kutay Cingiz
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  2. Justus Wesseler
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Correspondence to Justus Wesseler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Liesbeth Dries

  2. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Wim Heijman

  3. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Roel Jongeneel

  4. Law and Governance Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Kai Purnhagen

  5. Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Justus Wesseler

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Cingiz, K., Wesseler, J. (2019). Opportunities and the Policy Challenges to the Circular Agri-Food System. In: Dries, L., Heijman, W., Jongeneel, R., Purnhagen, K., Wesseler, J. (eds) EU Bioeconomy Economics and Policies: Volume II. Palgrave Advances in Bioeconomy: Economics and Policies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28642-2_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28642-2_16

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