Over the last decade, the concept of the circular economy has regained attention, especially related to efforts to achieve a more sustainable society. The ‘revival’ of the circular economy has been accompanied by controversies and confusions across different actors in science and practice. With this article we attempt at contributing to advanced clarity in the field and providing a heuristic that is useful in practice. Initially, we take a focus on the historical development of the concept of circular economy and value retention options (ROs) for products and materials aiming for increased circularity. We propose to distinguish three phases in the evolution of the circular economy and argue that the concept – in its dominant framing – is not as new as frequently claimed. Having established this background knowledge, we give insights into ‘how far we are’ globally, with respect to the implementation of circularity, arguing that high levels of circularity have already been reached in different parts of the globe with regard to longer loop value retention options, such as energy recovery and recycling. Subsequently, we show that the confusion surrounding the circular economy is more far reaching. We summarize the divergent perspectives on retention options and unite the most common views a 10R typology. From our analyses, we conclude that policymakers and businesses should focus their efforts on realization of the more desirable, shorter loop retention options, like remanufacturing, refurbishing and repurposing – yet with a view on feasibility and overall system effects. Scholars, on the other hand, should assist the parties contributing to an increased circular economy in practice by taking up a more active role in attaining consensus in conceptualizing the circular economy.

The circular economy: New or Refurbished as CE 3.0? — Exploring Controversies in the Conceptualization of the Circular Economy through a Focus on History and Resource Value Retention Options

Mesoporous activated carbon fibers synthesized from denim fabric waste: Efficient adsorbents for removal of textile dye from aqueous solutions

Central sorting and recovery of MSW recyclable materials: A review of technological state-of-the-art, cases, practice and implications for materials recycling.

The textile industry is a large source of pollution due to the production of raw materials (natural and synthetic fibers), preparation and finishing processes, as well as due to textile waste, especially the post-consumer waste. This paper is an attempt to change the perception concerning such waste. In the context of circular economy, textile waste has to be conceived as a source for carbon and energy. A new attitude is compulsory due to the increase of post-consumer waste quantity since the volume of textile consumption has lately increased. Fast fashion cycle and cheaper textile products having a shorter lifetime led to an increase of the quantity of post-consumer textile waste. Demands for pollution reduction generated the concern to upcycle the textile waste in order to recover, at least partially, the materials as well as the energy consumed for their manufacture, reducing accordingly the carbon and water footprints of these products,. The scarcity of raw materials and of fossil fuels, the high environmental impact of the simple disposal of waste, imposed a new policy regarding the transformation of the linear economy which characterizes today’s textile industry into a circular one, leading to a lower environmental impact. This involves the valorization of post-consumer waste by recycling or at least by a partial recovery of the materials and energy spent for the manufacture of these products. A good management of post-consumer textile waste is mandatory for attaining a zero waste target. Some good practices in the field are presented by this paper.

State of the art of post-consumer textile waste upcycling to reach the zero waste milestone

Life cycle assessment of flame retardant cotton textiles with optimized end-of-life phase

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0734242X12455089

Maarten Goorhuis

Papers

New developments in waste management in the Netherlands.

Design jeans for recycling: a supply chain case study in The Netherlands.