ABSTRACT
The fifth Factor X publication from the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy provides an overview of the limits to the circular economy, emphasising the relationship between integrated resource use and more systemic leadership-management approaches.
On a European level, the book ties into the recent European Green Deal and aims to empower actors across sectors and EU member countries to transition from existing linear models of value capture and expression to more systemic-circular solutions of value capture and expression. The volume provides a hands-on contribution towards building the knowledge and skill sets of current and future decision-makers who face these complex-systemic crises in their day-to-day business. The book further provides access to best practices from cutting-edge research and development findings, which will empower decision-makers to develop a more sustainable and equitable economy.
Providing solutions for a more sustainable economy, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resource use, sustainable business, environmental economics and sustainable development, as well as decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society.
The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available
under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|58 pages
What we dream of!
chapter 2|12 pages
Does waste equal food?
chapter 3|14 pages
‘The impossible dream'
chapter 4|11 pages
The entropic nature of the economic process
part II|86 pages
What are our blind spots?
chapter 6|11 pages
Circular economy, sustainability and functional differentiation
chapter 7|9 pages
Circularity is not sustainability
chapter 8|9 pages
Circular Economy
chapter 9|13 pages
Some observations on the current Circular Economy model
chapter 10|11 pages
Circular economy leadership
chapter 12|12 pages
Who has discursive agency to change global environmental narratives?
part III|70 pages
What we need to stress more!
chapter 16|13 pages
From closed to open systems
chapter 17|11 pages
Truly circular economies require deep collaboration
chapter 19|13 pages
Circularity's stumbling blocks
part IV|92 pages
What opportunities do we see?