Abstract
This study analyses the effect on energy use of applying a wide range of circular economy approaches. By collating evidence on specific quantifiable approaches and then calculating and analyzing their combined full supply chain impacts through input-output analysis, it provides a more complete assessment of the overall potential scope for energy savings that these approaches might deliver than provided elsewhere. Assessment is conducted globally, across the EU-27 and in the UK.Overall, the identified opportunities have the potential to save 6%–11% of the energy used to support economic activity, worldwide and in the EU, and 5%–8% in the UK. Their potential is equivalent to the total scope for other industrial energy efficiency savings.The potential savings are further divided into those due to sets of approaches relating to food waste, steel production, other materials production, product refurbishment, vehicle provision, construction and other equipment manufacture. Each of these sets of approaches can make a key contribution to the total savings that are possible.Complementary use of energy and exergy metrics illustrates the way in which energy use might change and for the first time provides indication that in most cases other energy efficiency measures are unlikely to be adversely affected by the circular economy approaches.Potential for savings in the energy embodied in each key product input to each major sector is assessed, enabling prioritization of the areas in which the circular economy approaches have the greatest scope for impact and identification of supply chains for which they are underrepresented.
Highlights
IntroductionPopularized through the concept of the ‘circular economy’, the potential for resource efficiency to reduce environmental burdens and to increase resilience to resource scarcity is increasingly recognized globally
The analysis reported here should strictly be understood to reflect the modelled effect of the circular economy approaches that are summarized in Table 1 and detailed in Supplementary Information C: “Circular economy approaches”; it should not be considered to be a definition of “The Circular Economy”, nor a comprehensive listing of other approaches that might be or become available
The identified circular economy approaches have the potential to reduce the global energy use relating to economic activity by 6%e11%
Summary
Popularized through the concept of the ‘circular economy’, the potential for resource efficiency to reduce environmental burdens and to increase resilience to resource scarcity is increasingly recognized globally. The desirability of these approaches was formally recognized by China in 2002 which enacted legislation in 2009 to incentivize and enable them (Mathews and Tan, 2011; Yuan et al, 2006). The European Commission (2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d) has proposed directives around the theme of promoting the circular economy These cover a wide range of approaches: ecodesign and production, consumption (e.g. encouraging repair), increased recycling (especially for packaging) along with additional focus on food waste, construction waste, critical raw materials and biobased materials. The UK government has announced their intention to pursue the economic and environmental benefits of ‘circular economy’ approaches, focusing on waste prevention through measures to encourage product longevity (DEFRA, 2013)
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