ABSTRACT
Following from the previous chapter, we analyse how the concept of circular economy was mainstreamed both in academic research and in European policy in the 2010s. The concept of circular economy gained prominence in Europe in 2013 with the first report of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Defined both as a blessing and as a curse, the work of the Foundation has impacted policy-making and supported the advancement of a number of communications on the circular economy by the European Commission. The circular economy first appears in a communication in 2014 as a cautious transition pathway towards sustainability, characterised by moderation. The new presidency of the European Commission recasts the circular economy as an ambitious project in 2015, which is supposed to deliver economic growth. We show how the recent development of the circular economy concept drives towards a reconciliation of economic and environmental objectives, shifting the discourse from a problem of trade-offs and difficult choices to a language of “win-win” and opportunities for synergy. We argue that, despite the ambition of the European Commission, the circular economy policy has mainly consisted of the development of a sociotechnical imaginary, and has fallen short of moving beyond waste management in terms of policy implementation.
