Security priorities in circular economy: A conceptual review

Abstract

Political interest in the circular economy (CE) concept is increasing globally, creating the conditions for a transformation towards a more circular society. Meanwhile, the security implications of specific circular solutions and their impact on prioritisation between CE policies remain unclear. This paper applied an abductive approach to systematic and critical review methods to explore the connections between CE and security and map security priorities from the academic literature. In the systematic review, 249 papers on the CE were analysed using the circular principles framework and resource security concept. Then, the critical review selected 38 papers and employed a constructivist security discourse framework to distinguish security perspectives in the CE. As a result, this study presents a spectrum of circular solutions that can address the challenges of food, material, energy, and water resource security. Four security discourses in the CE that prioritise different solutions and have diverse security implications are found. These results can help CE studies to relate conceptually to resource security and broaden the spectrum of applicable solutions. The CE's security discourse framework can be used to explore the geopolitical, intragenerational, social, and environmental effects of circular solutions, inform political debates, evaluate circular policies, and support marginalised circular solutions to ensure an inclusive circular transformation.