Chapter 10 - Circular economy and sustainable strategies: Theoretical framework, policies and regulation challenges, barriers, and enablers for water management

Abstract

During the last few decades, global population growth generated an imperative need for water resources management in such a way that preserves the aqueous sources and instills environmental awareness in citizens in all developing and developed countries. In response to this environmental-alarming call central governments and public policy designers developed planning strategies to adopt the notion of sustainable development and the rational use of natural materials, as common sharing assets of economic value. Subsequently, among the proposed designing tools of water management that improve the everyday life of citizens and appreciate water as a vital and irreplaceable commodity, it is that of circular economy (CE). In this context regulatory patterns, public policies, private-owned initiatives, as well as representative cases in which CE principles have been jointly adopted for water management, have been studied. To better understand the linkages developed between CE and water management, three case studies were developed: (1) eutrophication and environmental remediation in lake environments, (2) presence of microplastics (MPs) and environmental remediation in marine environments, and (3) CE in the agricultural sector. Conclusively, constraints, barriers, enablers, and challenging prospects of future research on this multiparametric CE-water management framework were approached.