ABSTRACT
Summing up the second part of the book we will situate the critical discussion of circular economy policies within a broader debate of governance and current debates about the water-energy-food nexus. Key ingredients in the framing of the circular economy (win-win narratives, focus on synergies) are dictated by the necessity to work across multiple directorates and build alliances between epistemic networks. These results contribute to the study of the science-policy interface and shed light on the specificities of emerging nexus policies. While STS literatures focus on problematic aspects of quantification, power, and standardisation, the nexus debate adds another important layer, which is the need to work across policy domains and negotiate interests and discourses. New elements come into play in the study of the science-policy interface, crucially, the reduction of uncertainty to technical footnotes, and a loss of understanding of field-specific uncertainties in favour of cross-cutting benefits. The circular economy thus gathers consensus based on high-level and generic aspirations to do good by the environment. Good intentions are shielded from criticism and disagreement, creating an apparent consensus. As a result, the European Commission stated in 2019 that the circular economy action plan has been delivered, even though it is too early to see any changes in the level of circularity, as measured by the Commission itself.
