Lakhasly

The circular economy (CE) lacks a standardized definition, frequently described as combining reduce, reuse, and recycle activities. ADEME defines CE as an economic model analyzing product life cycles to increase resource efficiency, reduce environmental impact, improve well-being, decouple economic growth from resource consumption, and satisfy individual desires. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation characterizes CE as an industrial system inherently restorative or regenerative by design, replacing the 'end-of-life' concept with restoration, aiming to eliminate waste through superior design for maximum efficiency, using renewable energy, and avoiding toxic chemicals. Academically, CE is an alternative to the linear model, focused on improving well-being, preserving the environment, and reducing natural resource use.

CE operates across three main areas—supply from economic actors, demand and consumer behavior, and waste management (with recycling being essential)—leveraging technological innovations for efficient waste management and clean energy, and organizational innovations like industrial ecology, product life extension, and responsible purchasing.

The CE concept aligns with Karl Ludwig Von Bertalanffy's 'general systems theory,' which emphasizes interdisciplinarity and the interaction of key players toward a common goal, offering sustainable solutions. This is evident in CE through manufacturer interactions that extend product life cycles and consumers' responsible purchases, contributing to environmental protection and cost reduction.

Industrial ecology, or industrial symbiosis, is a crucial element. Its prerequisite, industrial metabolism, studies material and energy flows in industrial systems. Industrial ecology builds on this by aiming to make industrial systems compatible with biological ecosystems. Industrial symbiosis embodies this, with companies collectively exchanging materials, energy, water, and by-products, turning one company's waste into another's resource for competitive advantage.

Indeed, there has not been a standardised definition of the circular economy since
the concept emerged, (Kirchherr, Reike & Hekkert, 2017) compiled a collection of 114
definitions of the circular economy. Its results show that the circular economy is most
often described as a combination of reduce, reuse and recycle activities. According to
ADEME, the circular economy is an economic model based on an analysis of the life
cycle of products (goods or services) with the aim of increasing the efficiency of resource
use and reducing the impact on the environment, while at the same time improving
people's well-being, to decouple the consumption of resources from the country's
economic growth, all for the satisfaction of individual desires. (ADEME, 2013)
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation defines the Circular Economy as: “A circular
economy is an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and
design”. It replaces the ‘end-of-life’ concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of
renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, which impair reuse, and aims for
the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, and systems
for maximum efficiency. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013)
The two most widely used definitions in the academic literature indicate that the
circular economy is an alternative model to the linear model that analyses the life cycle of
products in order to improve people’s well-being, preserve the environment and reduce
the use of natural resources.
Circular Economy Areas
The circular economy is based on a host of technological innovations aimed at
efficient waste management and clean energy production, as well as organisational
innovations such as industrial and regional ecology strategies, extending the life of
products and responsible purchasing by consumers. (Bourdin & Torre, 2023) The circular
economy is based on three main areas of action: supply from economic actors, demand
and consumer behaviour, and waste management, for which recycling is essential.
Figure no. 1 Тhe principales of the circular economy (3 areas, 7 pillars)
Source: Héry, M., & Malenfer, M. (2020). Development of a circular economy and
evolution of working conditions and occupational risks — a strategic foresight study. European
Journal of Futures Research52
The Circular Economy: A Systemic Approach
The notion of ‘global systems’ was introduced by the biologist Karl Ludwig Von
Bertalanffy, who developed the idea. It was disseminated in an article entitled ‘General
systems theory’ in 1968; general systems theory was based on interdisciplinarity.
He aimed to generalize the principles of biological synergy so they could be
applied to all systems or organizations. The principle of this theory is the interaction
between the main players involved in creating value in a dynamic environment for a
common goal.
According to Bertalanffy, organisms, in their relationship and the interaction
between the components that are part of them, are considered to be living biological
systems (Bertalanffy, 1972).
The aim of systematic thinking is to offer the possibility of secure, judicious
solutions that are both sustainable and parallel to the development of projects and
businesses (Moayyad & Alkhatib, 2020). It is also a well-integrated approach to thinking,
learning and innovative analysis to address the potential consequences.
The case of the circular economy appears in the relations between manufacturers
which takes part in the lengthening of the life cycle of goods and services and the
interaction with the behaviour of the purchasers with their responsible purchases and
consumptions in order to take part in the protection of the environment, reducing the costs
associated with producing or consuming goods and services.
Industrial ecology
Industrial metabolism is the study of all the biophysical components of an
industrial system. This process, which is essentially analytical and descriptive, aims to
understand the dynamics of materials and energy flows and stocks linked to human
activities, from the extraction and production of resources to their inevitable return,
sooner or later, to biogeochemical processes.
Industrial ecology aims to go a step further: drawing on knowledge of ecosystems
and the biosphere, it seeks to identify the transformations that can make the industrial
system compatible with the ‘normal’ functioning of biological ecosystems. The study of
industrial metabolism is therefore an essential prerequisite for industrial ecology.
(Erkman, 2004).
Industrial ecology or industrial symbiosis is defined as ‘distinct entities in a
collective approach aiming to benefit from a competitive advantage involving the
physical exchange of materials, energy, water and by-products’. Companies work
together in the form of communities, with waste from one company becoming a source of
production for others at the same stage (Diemer & Dierickx, 2022).