Circular economy model for developing countries: evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

From environmental and sustainable development perspective, circular economy model is rarely applied in developing countries compared to developed nations. The aim of this paper is to review the overall scenario of the circular economy (CE) model in Bangladesh toward sustainable development. The study relies on the descriptive analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data, collected mostly from secondary sources with some in-depth interviews of the experts in the relevant field. The overall environmental status of Bangladesh, prospects, practices, and challenges of the circular economy model were thoroughly discussed in this paper. Though there are prospects to switching towards CE, the study reveals that the CE model's applicability is very limited in Bangladesh, being exercised mostly through recycling processes in some industries. Most importantly, we attempted to explore what is holding the CE practice in Bangladesh back, and iterated some policy, technical, and public participation barriers existing in Bangladesh. This paper will benefit the policymakers in developing countries in general and Bangladesh in particular to look more into the matter and hope to present ideas for future researchers to work on the idea of CE in the context of particular sectors and subsectors of Bangladesh.