scholarly journals Looking ahead - from fossil fuel to a circular bioeconomy in Europe. Evolution and behaviour

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 296-306
Author(s):  
Gheorghe Zaman ◽  
Giani Ionel Grădinaru ◽  
Bogdan Florin Matei
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Renewable Resources ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Energy Industry ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Giving due consideration to sustainability, the new concept of bioeconomy has faced strong support from international policymakers, changing the way the economy is currently working. And it does not involve only the replacement of fossil feedstock with bio-based fuels, but also acquiring value from waste and bringing to light the resource efficiency that can lead to a smooth transition from a linear to a circular economy. This paper aims to track the EU states movement in implementing the bioeconomy best practices by building clusters based on their progress in adapting their industries to the new requirements. To make this possible, we created two scenarios for recording the evolution of the energy industry in 27 countries: the first one that groups them according to the fossil-fuel sources, and the second one based on renewable resources. Our results revealed that the biomass tends to be used as a complementary source and not a substitute, in comparison to the traditional fuels. Same actors keep the leading positions in both scenarios, making us believe that they may face strong challenges in reaching the European Commission goals. Thus, the present study emphasizes the need to develop highly efficient policies for all EU members to keep the same path.

EU 'circular economy' will boost resource efficiency

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Linear Model ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Waste Prevention ◽  
Green Technologies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Eu

Subject Circular economy in the EU. Significance The European Commission launched on May 28 a public consultation on an ambitious 'circular economy' package for increasing resource efficiency, which it is likely to release to coincide with the Paris COP21 meetings. The prevailing growth model since the industrial revolution has relied on a 'take-make-consume-dispose' pattern. There is increasing recognition that this linear model, which assumes resources are abundant and that disposal is cheap, is unsustainable. The market for green technologies is worth 1 trillion euros and is expected to double by 2020. Impacts Integrated eco-design, waste prevention and reuse policies could yield savings for EU businesses of up to 600 billion euros annually. Additional measures to increase resource productivity by 30% by 2030 could boost EU GDP by nearly 1% and create 2 million additional jobs. The EU will seek to broaden acceptance of the circular economy paradigm beyond its borders, via bilateral and multilateral frameworks.

scholarly journals Barriers and Drivers for Circular Economy 2.0 on the Firm Level: Russian Case

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 11080
Author(s):  
Svetlana Ratner ◽  
Konstantin Gomonov ◽  
Inna Lazanyuk ◽  
Svetlana Revinova
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Eu

Historically, the development of the circular economy (CE) proceeds from the CE 1.0 stage, characterized by attention to waste management and recycling, to the CE 2.0 stage with an emphasis on resource efficiency and eco-efficiency, to the current CE 3.0 stage, in which the key factor to a company’s success is the business model. However, not all countries of the world simultaneously began transforming the national economy from a linear model to a circular one; many are still at the CE 1.0 and CE 2.0 stages, and do not have a developed system of institutions supporting the circular economy. In Russia, the concept of a circular economy has not yet received recognition in society and government; the stage of its development can be defined as CE 2.0. This study compares the barriers and drivers of CE development in the EU countries, a group of countries with a well-developed institutional support system, and in Russia, a country that does not have such a system. The study reveals that the most significant difference between countries with mature systems of institutional support and Russia lies in the regulatory sphere and in information and awareness about new available technologies and ways to increase resource efficiency, commercial attractiveness, and organizational feasibility. Changes in the first sphere are impossible without the participation of the national authorities; however, changes in the information sphere are feasible even without the government’s support. The actors in such changes can be international companies with access to resource-efficient new technologies and processes for organizing business.

scholarly journals Analysis of Economic and Environmental Welfare in the Context of Circular Economy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Stankevičienė ◽  
Marta Nikanorova
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Renewable Resources ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Environmental Aspect ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Selection Of

The concept of circular economy is alternative to linear economy, which places sustainability in the center of the interest. The circular economy focuses on environmental, resource efficiency, “no waste” approach, social factors and promotes the co-existing of healthy economy together with environmental health. The purpose of the article is to propose a concept of economic and environmental welfare in the context of circular economy, apply and provide empirical evidence based on economic data of Baltic Sea Region countries. The article includes the observation of environmental aspect and resource efficiency in Baltic Sea Region including green energy, renewable resources, waste management, economic indicators, as well as literature analysis and quantitative analysis. A multi-criteria decision analysis method TOPSIS was used to compare the set of indicators by identifying weights for each criterion. TOPSIS is quite useful method to rank and make selection of a number of indicators. By the result, the Baltic Sea Region countries are scored by the economic and environmental welfare in the context of circular economy.

European experience in transition to circular economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Ratner
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
National Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
European Experience ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Eu

Subject. The article considers the concept of circular economy, which has originated relatively recently in the academic literature, and is now increasingly recognized in many countries at the national level. In the European Union, the transition to circular economy is viewed as an opportunity to improve competitiveness of the European Union, protect businesses from resource shortages and fluctuating prices for raw materials and supplies, and a way to increase employment and innovation. Objectives. The aim of the study is to analyze the incentives developed by the European Commission for moving to circular economy, and to assess their effectiveness on the basis of statistical analysis. Methods. I employ general scientific methods of research. Results. The analysis of the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy enabled to conclude that the results of the recent research in circular economy barriers, eco-innovation, technology and infrastructure were successfully integrated into the framework of this document. Understanding the root causes holding back the circular economy development and the balanced combination of economic and administrative incentives strengthened the Action Plan, and it contributed to the circular economy development in the EU. Conclusions. The measures to stimulate the development of the circular economy proposed in the European Action Plan can be viewed as a prototype for designing similar strategies in other countries, including Russia. Meanwhile, a more detailed analysis of barriers to the circular economy at the level of individual countries and regions is needed.

Austrian Veto against European Union Membership Negotiations with Turkey

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Ewa Kaczan-Winiarska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strategic Partner ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
European Standards ◽  
The Eu

The Austrian government is extremely sceptical about the accession negotiations which are conducted by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union with Turkey and calls for the negotiation process to end. Serious reservations of Vienna have been raised by the current political situation in Turkey under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as by the standards of democracy in Turkey, which differ greatly from European standards. Serious deficiencies in rule of law, freedom of speech and independence of the judiciary, confirmed in the latest European Commission report on Turkey, do not justify, from Vienna’s point of view, the continuation of talks with Ankara on EU membership. In fact, Austria’s scepticism about the European perspective for Turkey has a longer tradition. This was marked previously in 2005 when the accession negotiations began. Until now, Austria’s position has not had enough clout within the European arena. Pragmatic cooperation with Turkey as a strategic partner of the EU, both in the context of the migration crisis and security policy, proved to be a key factor. The question is whether Austria, which took over the EU presidency from 1.7.2018, will be able to more strongly accentuate its reservations about Turkey and even build an alliance of Member States strong enough to block Turkey’s accession process.

scholarly journals The European Committee of the Regions as a watchdog of the principle of subsidiarity

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-301
Author(s):  
Salvatore Fabio Nicolosi ◽  
Lisette Mustert
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
European Committee ◽  
Legislative Proposal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Committee Of The Regions ◽  
Regional Funds ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The Eu

In a resolution adopted on 1 February 2018, the European Committee of the Regions noted that a legislative proposal of the European Commission concerning a Regulation that changes the rules governing the EU regional funds for 2014-2020 did not comply with the principle of subsidiarity. Accordingly, the Committee considered challenging the legislative proposal before the Court of Justice if the proposal was formally agreed upon. Although at a later stage the European Commission decided to take into account the Committee’s argument and amended the proposal accordingly, such a context offers the chance to investigate more in detail the role of the Committee of the Regions in the legislative process of the EU and, more in particular, its role as a watchdog of the principle of subsidiarity. This paper aims to shed light on a rather neglected aspect of the EU constitutional practice, such as the potential of the Committee of the Regions to contribute to the legislative process, and answer the question of whether this Committee is the right body to guarantee compliance with the principle of subsidiarity.

scholarly journals Sustainability in the European Union: Analyzing the Discourse of the European Green Deal

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Eva Eckert ◽  
Oleksandra Kovalevska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Main Question ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Media ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
The One ◽  
The Eu

In the European Union, the concern for sustainability has been legitimized by its politically and ecologically motivated discourse disseminated through recent policies of the European Commission and the local as well as international media. In the article, we question the very meaning of sustainability and examine the European Green Deal, the major political document issued by the EC in 2019. The main question pursued in the study is whether expectations verbalized in the Green Deal’s plans, programs, strategies, and developments hold up to the scrutiny of critical discourse analysis. We compare the Green Deal’s treatment of sustainability to how sustainability is presented in environmental and social science scholarship and point out that research, on the one hand, and the politically motivated discourse, on the other, do not correlate and often actually contradict each other. We conclude that sustainability discourse and its keywords, lexicon, and phraseology have become a channel through which political institutions in the EU such as the European Commission sideline crucial environmental issues and endorse their own presence. The Green Deal discourse shapes political and institutional power of the Commission and the EU.

scholarly journals Development of the Circular Bioeconomy: Drivers and Indicators

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 413
Author(s):  
Maximilian Kardung ◽  
Kutay Cingiz ◽  
Ortwin Costenoble ◽  
Roel Delahaye ◽  
Wim Heijman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Analysis Framework ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The EU’s 2018 Bioeconomy Strategy Update and the European Green Deal recently confirmed that the bioeconomy is high on the political agenda in Europe. Here, we propose a conceptual analysis framework for quantifying and analyzing the development of the EU bioeconomy. The bioeconomy has several related concepts (e.g., bio-based economy, green economy, and circular economy) and there are clear synergies between these concepts, especially between the bioeconomy and circular economy concepts. Analyzing the driving factors provides important information for monitoring activities. We first derive the scope of the bioeconomy framework in terms of bioeconomy sectors and products to be involved, the needed geographical coverage and resolution, and time period. Furthermore, we outline a set of indicators linked to the objectives of the EU’s bioeconomy strategy. In our framework, measuring developments will, in particular, focus on the bio-based sectors within the bioeconomy as biomass and food production is already monitored. The selected indicators commit to the EU Bioeconomy Strategy objectives and conform with findings from previous studies and stakeholder consultation. Additionally, several new indicators have been suggested and they are related to measuring the impact of changes in supply, demand drivers, resource availability, and policies on sustainability goals.

scholarly journals How Far Away Are World Economies from Circularity: Assessing the Capacity of Circular Economy Policy Packages in the Operation of Raw Materials and Industrial Wastes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4394
Author(s):  
Margarita Ignatyeva ◽  
Vera Yurak ◽  
Alexey Dushin ◽  
Vladimir Strovsky ◽  
Sergey Zavyalov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Industrial Wastes ◽  
New Guidelines ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Degree Level ◽  
The Eu

Nowadays, circular economy (CE) is on the agenda, however, this concept of closed supply chains originated in the 1960s. The current growing quantity of studies in this area accounts for different discourses except the holistic one, which mixes both approaches—contextual and operating (contextual approach utilizes the thorough examination of the CE theory, stricture of the policy, etc.; the operating one uses any kind of statistical data)—to assess the capacity of circular economy regulatory policy packages (CERPP) in operating raw materials and industrial wastes. This article demonstrates new guidelines for assessing the degree level of capacity (DLC) of CERPPs in the operation of raw materials and industrial wastes by utilizing the apparatus of the fuzzy set theory. It scrupulously surveys current CERPPs in three regions: the EU overall, Finland and Russia; and assesses for eight regions—the EU overall, Finland, Russia, China, Greece, France, the Netherlands and South Korea—the DLC of CERPPs in operating raw materials and industrial wastes. The results show that EU is the best in CE policy and its CERPP is 3R. The following are South Korea and China with the same type of CERPP. Finland, France and the Netherlands have worse results than EU with the type of CERPP called “integrated waste management” because of the absence of a waste hierarchy (reduce, recover, recycle). Russia closes the list with the type of CERPP “basic waste management”.

scholarly journals A Review of Bioplastics and Their Adoption in the Circular Economy

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1229
Author(s):  
Alberto Di Bartolo ◽  
Giulia Infurna ◽  
Nadka Tzankova Dintcheva
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sustainable Society ◽  
Net Zero

The European Union is working towards the 2050 net-zero emissions goal and tackling the ever-growing environmental and sustainability crisis by implementing the European Green Deal. The shift towards a more sustainable society is intertwined with the production, use, and disposal of plastic in the European economy. Emissions generated by plastic production, plastic waste, littering and leakage in nature, insufficient recycling, are some of the issues addressed by the European Commission. Adoption of bioplastics–plastics that are biodegradable, bio-based, or both–is under assessment as one way to decouple society from the use of fossil resources, and to mitigate specific environmental risks related to plastic waste. In this work, we aim at reviewing the field of bioplastics, including standards and life cycle assessment studies, and discuss some of the challenges that can be currently identified with the adoption of these materials.

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