Circular economy as an essentially contested concept

TLDR

The Circular Economy is a popular but under‑researched concept, with foundational assumptions about values, society, and worldview largely unexplored. The paper aims to clarify CE definitions and propose a research model to guide future studies and strengthen its contribution to sustainability. The authors propose a categorization model that organizes CE research into coherent categories. Existing CE research concentrates on technical metrics of material flows, and the authors argue that CE is an essentially contested concept.

Abstract

The Circular Economy (CE) is currently a popular notion within the policy and business advocacy groups. Despite being visionary and provocative in its message, the research on the CE concept is emerging. The two intertwined objectives of the paper are; first to identify, discuss and develop the various definitions provided by the emerging literature. Secondly, to suggest an initial research approach with which research on CE can be conducted. Our analysis shows that the existing CE work is mainly done on the practical and technical levels of the actual physical flows of materials and energy in production-consumption systems. The focus of the extant literature is on concrete metrics, tools, instruments and computations. Therefore, the basic assumptions concerning the values, societal structures, cultures, underlying world-views and the paradigmatic potential of CE remain largely unexplored. We argue that CE has already become what Gallie (1955) more than six decades ago termed as an "essentially contested concept" (ECC). The paper further suggests a model for CE research that helps in the categorization, classification and organization of research and investigation on CE. The model can help in limiting the observed unbalance and enhance the contribution of the CE approach to a more sustainable global society.