Abstract
The complexity of the challenges faced by the world economy over the past decades is a clear indication that the linear economic model that starts with the exploitation of resources and ends with the disposal of waste is almost reaching its limits. These limitations are obvious in the following areas: resource exploitation, environment, economic added value of a unit of consumed resource, and also on the labour market. Under these circumstances, the circular economy model, which provides feasible solutions for all of these areas where the linear economic model shows its limitations, becomes an alternative to be taken into account. Although these challenges are global in nature, it is obvious that a functional global circular economy can be built incrementally starting from the interconnection of national circular economies that rely on interconnected regional circular economies. Using this hypothesis, in this paper we propose an indicator that can be used for a multi-criteria evaluation of the potential for developing a circular economy at national level, for the case of Romania. Our proposed approach allows the assessment of the county’s potential based on a six-dimensional indicator and on 16 individual variables, built on a methodology similar to the one used for the indicator measuring the potential of an economy to attract foreign direct investment proposed by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) in WIR2012 (World Investment Report 2012). Thus, using the 16 variables collected for the period 2008-2014, the circular economy potential indicator was calculated based on the NIS and NTRO databases. Among the most important empirical results are the identification of the concentration poles, which, in 2014, are represented by the city of Bucharest and by the counties: Braila, Constanta, Mures, Alba, Sibiu and Maramures and the identification of areas with low potential, which are Oltenia, Muntenia and the central and north-eastern area of Moldova
Highlights
In order to generate sustainable economic development across the globe, it takes time, and realistic goals and effective resource optimization measures to eliminate waste as much as possible and to employ the practice of recycling in a more prolonged rhythm
The necessity of the approach proposed by the authors in this paper is based on the fears that the directions of development of the national economy through intensive and conventional means generated by certain market economy situations and somewhat sustained by certain EU policies push the Romanian economy model on the path of divergence from the principles of circular economy, which can ensure sustainability under the context of the current challenges
By aggregating the data from the National Trade Register Office database, the analysis is performed for the following dimensions of the economic sector: the number of companies in the selected NACE class, at county level, the turnover of the selected NACE companies at county level, the number of employees of the selected NACE class companies at the county level, the average number of employees of a NACE company selected at county level, the average turnover of a company in the NACE class selected at county level and the average turnover achieved by an employee of a NACE company selected at county level
Summary
In order to generate sustainable economic development across the globe, it takes time, and realistic goals and effective resource optimization measures to eliminate waste as much as possible and to employ the practice of recycling in a more prolonged rhythm. The European Commission revising the waste directives by increasing recycling targets can generate an incentive among Member States to increase the likelihood of circular economy implementation. These prospects are expected to stimulate global sustainable competitiveness that is driven by investment in the sector through the use of innovative technologies and the creation of new jobs. From a structural point of view, the paper contains three main sections, accompanied by an introductory part and a section of conclusions After this introductory part, an overview of the concept of circular economy and its chronological evolution was made by placing it in the context of the most important directions followed by the literature. The main results of the empirical analysis are presented and their main social economic implications are addressed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
