The loop from idealised to messy − Untangling ideational features of the circular economy and hybridity in its making

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) has been one of the key environmental policy concepts of the last decade. Despite the growing number of CE policies, applications and research, we still lack a detailed understanding of what kind of policy idea we are referring to with the CE. Our purpose in this perspective is to untangle the ideational features of the CE by separating three dynamic dimensions from the idea: economic model, conceptual innovation and policy objectives. In addition, we propose the research of hybridity as a fitting theoretical discussion to understand the plural societal setup in which the idea of the CE has been implemented.