TACLE Towards A sustainable CircuLar Economy

To decouple economic growth from increased natural resource use and hence environmental impacts the concept of Circular Economy (CE) has experienced increased attention. Hitherto, a holistic approach on how to manage the transition from a linear to a CE is lacking. The questions on how and if a sustainable CE can be achieved remains open. This project aims at answering these questions by combining a resource perspective with a socioeconomic perspective (see detailed description below). In a first step, opportunities to increase resource efficiency in Swiss industry by closing material cycles in environmentally friendly ways and potentials for waste prevention are identified and quantified, including aspects of material quality. To do so, all industrial by-products and wastes in Switzerland are mapped. In parallel, the international realm of innovations and policies that contribute to a CE is screened. Subsequently, up to three value chains are selected and analyzed in-depth from a resource and a socioeconomic perspective. The outcome of joining the two perspectives will lead to recommendations to optimize regional and supra regional resource exchanges, recommendations on value chain reconfigurations, as well as recommendations for policy makers and businesses on how to manage the transition from linear to CE.

external page http://www.nrp73.ch/en/projects/circular-economy/towards-a-sustainable-circular-economy