Abstract
The Circular Economy is an appealing strategy for sustainable development that is being promoted by industries and governments in several industrial and emerging economies, such as the European Union, Japan and China. This chapter uses a sociometabolic approach to assess how circular or linear global material flows are at the turn of the 21st century. Analysis of the global material flows shows that 58 Gt (gigatons) of materials are extracted, 28 Gt are for energetic use, 26 Gt are additions to stocks, 4 Gt are consumed within a year and 4 Gt are waste rock. Of these flows, 4 Gt are recycled, so together with the 58 Gt of extracted materials, the global economy processed 62 Gt of materials. Thus, for 7 % of the global economy’s inputs, the material loop is closed. An exploration of the potentials and limitations of the Circular Economy reveals that strategies targeting the output side (end-of-pipe) are limited given the present proportions of flows, whereas a shift toward renewable energy, a significant reduction of societal stock growth and decisive eco-design are required to advance toward a Circular Economy.
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- 1.
In the public debate and, often, in scientific discourse, the notion of recycling is applied when biomass is composted and returned to fields as fertilizer and to improve soils. Here, the basic goal is to maintain a closed loop for essential plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. In a strict sense, however, this manure and compost do not qualify as recycling. First, a significant part of the circle is not within the socioeconomic system—a precondition for recycling—but the biomass wastes are returned to ecosystems. Second, it is not the main material component that is recycled. The original product (e.g., food) is converted into an auxiliary or fertilizing product that supports soil fertility and plant growth, i.e., the production of new primary biomass.
- 2.
This was even the case in China in the 1970s. According to Rodale (1973), ‘About 80 % of all fertilizer used is organic—either animal or human wastes, mulches or green manure crops’ (p. 290).
- 3.
The term rebound effects, or the Jevons paradox, refers to the observed phenomenon that greater efficiency usually leads to cost savings for the same amount of services. However, these savings are then spent either on more of the same service or on other products and services, leading to overall lower savings than anticipated. This rebound usually ranges from 10 to 50 %. A related term is carbon leakage effects, which refers to the externalization of emissions, such as to other regions. There is also the green paradox, which highlights that energy savings or the substitution of fossil fuels by renewable energies in important consumer markets might lead to globally reduced prices for fossil fuels, which may boost energy consumption in other regions.
- 4.
Gt or gigatons equals 109 metric tons.
- 5.
Jacobson and Delucchi (2011) believe it is feasible for wind power to cover 50 % of the global energy demand by 2030.
- 6.
According to the World Silica Sand Market report (The Freedonia group 2012), extraction will grow to 278 Mt (million metric tons) in 2016, from approximately 175 Mt in 2005.
- 7.
Colored glass cannot be turned into clear glass products, but it can be recycled into other colored glass products.
- 8.
Paper recycling reduces the length of fibers. Therefore, the ‘recycling’ is always a downcycling from one quality level to the next (from high-quality printing paper to corrugated board).
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Haas, W., Krausmann, F., Wiedenhofer, D., Heinz, M. (2016). How Circular Is the Global Economy? A Sociometabolic Analysis. In: Haberl, H., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Krausmann, F., Winiwarter, V. (eds) Social Ecology. Human-Environment Interactions, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33326-7_11
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