Lessons, narratives, and research directions for a sustainable circular economy
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives-optimist, reformist, and skeptical-that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars' insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science-policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers. Supplementary Information: The online version of this article (doi:10.1111/jiec.13346) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Research has focused on concepts and less on real-world applications and processes in the circular economy.
“Other studies suggest that research has focused on concepts and less on real-world applications and processes (Leipold et al., 2023).”
From Implementation and management of a circular public procurement contract for furniture (2023) · cites this paper as Leipold et al., 2023
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Cites
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Implementation and management of a circular public procurement contract for furniture
Lingegård, S., & von Oelreich, K. (2023) · Frontiers in Sustainability · doi:10.3389/frsus.2023.1136725 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Other studies suggest that research has focused on concepts and less on real-world applications and processes (Leipold et al., 2023).”
Background
- Authors
- Leipold, S., Petit‐Boix, A., Luo, A., Helander, H., Simoens, M., Ashton, W. S., Babbitt, C. W., Bala, A., Bening, C. R., Birkved, M., Blomsma, F., Boks, C., Boldrin, A., Deutz, P., Domenech, T., Ferronato, N., Gallego‐Schmid, A., Giurco, D., Hobson, K., Husgafvel, R., Isenhour, C., Kriipsalu, M., Masi, D., Mendoza, J. M. F., Milios, L., Niero, M., Pant, D., Parajuly, K., Pauliuk, S., Pieroni, M. P. P., Richter, J. L., Saidani, M., Smol, M., Peiró, L. T., van Ewijk, S., Vermeulen, W. J. V., Wiedenhofer, D., & Xue, B.
- Affiliations
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
- Rochester Institute of Technology (US)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Technical University of Denmark (DK)
- University of Hull (GB)
- Institute for Sustainable Resources University College London London UK
- University of Insubria (IT)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Aalto University (FI)
- University of Maine (US)
- Estonian University of Life Sciences (EE)
- Aston University (GB)
- Ikerbasque (ES)
- Lund University (SE)
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Flemish Institute for Technological Research (BE)
- University of Limerick (IE)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering University College London (UCL) London UK
- Utrecht University (NL)
- BOKU University (AT)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Leipold, Sina
- ORCID
- Leipold, Sina
- Petit‐Boix, Anna
- Luo, Anran
- Helander, Hanna
- Simoens, Machteld
- Ashton, Weslynne S.
- Babbitt, Callie W.
- Bala, Alba
- Bening, Catharina R.
- Birkved, Morten
- Blomsma, Fenna
- Boks, Casper
- Boldrin, Alessio
- Deutz, Pauline
- Ferronato, Navarro
- Gallego‐Schmid, Alejandro
- Giurco, Damien
- Hobson, Kersty
- Husgafvel, Roope
- Kriipsalu, Mait
- Masi, Donato
- Mendoza, Joan Manuel F.
- Milios, Leonidas
- Niero, Monia
- Pant, Deepak
- Parajuly, Keshav
- Pauliuk, Stefan
- Pieroni, Marina P. P.
- Richter, Jessika Luth
- Saidani, Michael
- Smol, Marzena
- Peiró, Laura Talens
- van Ewijk, Stijn
- Vermeulen, Walter J. V.
- Wiedenhofer, Dominik
- Xue, Bing
- Venue
- Journal of Industrial Ecology
- Published
- 2022-12-27
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 6-18
- ISSN
- 1088-1980 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9290
- PMC
- PMC13090178
- OpenAlex
- W4313227460
- Cited by
- 105
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 15.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Industrial Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
- Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Common Library Network (Der Gemeinsame Bibliotheksverbund) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- CINECA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Aaltodoc (Aalto University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- eRepository Mondragon University (Mondragon University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Espace ÉTS (ETS) (submittedVersion)
- IrInSubria (University of Insubria) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (031B0018)
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme (101056810)
- H2020 European Research Council (741950)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Sustainable Industrial Ecology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
- Keywords
- circular economy, sustainability transitions, research directions, science-policy interaction, circular economy assessment, interdisciplinary perspectives, policy-relevant research
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