Excited to see this new paper published in @RCRjournal : doi.org/10.1016/j.resc…
In this piece, I argue that the #CircularEconomy will remain a mere pipe dream as long as the growth imperative drives the economy. Instead, a post-growth approach to circular economy is required.⬇️
In this piece, I argue that the #CircularEconomy will remain a mere pipe dream as long as the growth imperative drives the economy. Instead, a post-growth approach to circular economy is required.⬇️
1. Circular economy is often heralded as a panacea that will allow green growth. While CE is trending as a topic, empirical evidence shows that, thus far,↗️ in global GDP have been tightly coupled with ↗️in the material footprint and associated ecological impacts of the economy.
2. Is a genuinely circular economy compatible with economic growth? There are, I argue, two main possible paths: persisting in attempting to reconcile the circular economy with economic growth or adopting a post-growth approach to the circular economy.
3. Regarding the first path, the thing w/ circular business model strategies (closing loops, slowing loops, etc.) is that they directly run against a political economy premised on perpetual growth and that pressures companies to squeeze costs and maximize shareholders’ profits.
4. In fact, in a growth-based economy, companies applying circular business model strategies are quickly outpriced and driven out of the market by cheaper, non-circular competitors.
5. Moreover, the business opportunities offered by circular business models (e.g. product-as-a-service, premium pricing) have limited growth potential and are mostly restricted to high-end customers who have the economic means to afford expensive and high-quality products.
6. To level the playing field, governments could implement policies to foster a circular economy, such as accurate pricing of environmental externalities. However, this policy context would be incompatible with an ever-growing economy.
7. For example, Smeets et al. (2001) show that accounting for environmental costs of the Dutch economy hampers industry's profits, to the point that some sectors do not generate sufficient profit to cover their own natural resource use and pollution costs: dnb.nl/publicaties/pu…
8. Regarding the second path, I define a post-growth era as one in which macroeconomic goals are reoriented towards wellbeing enhancement and *equitable* downscaling of production and consumption.
9. This doesn’t mean businesses would have no role to play in a post-growth era. But it'd entail a deep reconsideration of the very meaning of business, which would be recentred around cooperation, care, community and solidarity instead of profit making for capital accumulation.
10. In summary, a post-growth approach to circularity should be about abolishing the political economy of the growth imperative and putting material loops at the service of the wellbeing of both humans and non-humans.
Tagging @jasonhickel @g_kallis @JKSteinberger @ProfTimJackson @KateRaworth @timparrique @DrDanONeill @postgrowth @R_Degrowth @mariopansera @ClimateHuman @LorenzClimate @CUSP_uk @UUCopernicus @DrGiuseppeFeola @MartinCalisto - Let me know what you think.
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