Circular Economy Policies in China and Europe

Summary The idea of a circular economy (CE) has become prominent in both European and Chinese policy making. Chinese and European perspectives on a CE share a common conceptual basis and exhibit many similar concerns in seeking to enhance resource efficiency. Yet they also differ, and this article e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of industrial ecology Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 651 - 661
Main Authors: McDowall, Will, Geng, Yong, Huang, Beijia, Barteková, Eva, Bleischwitz, Raimund, Türkeli, Serdar, Kemp, René, Doménech, Teresa
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New Haven Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2017
Subjects:
Analogies
Articulation
Business
China
Circular economy
Circularity
Consumption
Design analysis
Documents
Economic policy
Economics
Efficiency
environmental governance
European Union
indicator
Indicators
Industrial development
industrial ecology
Industrialization
Media
Policy making
Pollution
Priorities
Qualitative analysis
Quantitative analysis
Regions
Resource efficiency
Scientific papers
Tempering
Value analysis
Value chain
Waste management
Europe
China
ISSN:1088-1980, 1530-9290
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Summary The idea of a circular economy (CE) has become prominent in both European and Chinese policy making. Chinese and European perspectives on a CE share a common conceptual basis and exhibit many similar concerns in seeking to enhance resource efficiency. Yet they also differ, and this article explores differences in the focus of CE policy in China and Europe. We present evidence on the differing understandings of the CE concept in Chinese and European policy discourse, drawing on qualitative and quantitative analysis of policy documents, media articles, and academic publications. We show that the Chinese perspective on the CE is broad, incorporating pollution and other issues alongside waste and resource concerns, and it is framed as a response to the environmental challenges created by rapid growth and industrialization. In contrast, Europe's conception of the CE has a narrower environmental scope, focusing more narrowly on waste and resources and opportunities for business. We then examine similarities and differences in the focus of policy activity in the two regions and in the indicators used to measure progress. We show differences in the treatment of issues of scale and place and different priorities across value chains (from design to manufacture, consumption, and waste management). We suggest some reasons for the divergent policy articulation of the CE concept and suggest lessons that each region can learn from the other.
Bibliography:Conflict of interest statement
The authors have no conflict to declare.
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ISSN:1088-1980
1530-9290
DOI:10.1111/jiec.12597