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Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Screening of the regulations and legislations that control the chemical content of plastics through their lifecycleThe mechanical recycling of plastic waste plays a crucial role in advancing the circular economy, ensuring that valuable resources within the waste stream are preserved for extended periods. However, the sustainable, economic, and environmentally responsible management of plastic waste remains a significant challenge, particularly when plastics are sourced from contaminated streams, such as those originating from electronic waste (e-plastics). These materials often contain a wide range of chemical substances, some of which can pose considerable environmental and health risks. Therefore, assessing the degree of contamination in plastic waste is essential to ensure a safe and sustainable life cycle for plastics. Regulatory frameworks aim to address this issue by establishing guidelines and limitations on the use of hazardous chemicals, as well as providing standards for the proper treatment of contaminated waste streams. This paper offers a comprehensive review of the regulations and legislation governing the chemical content of plastics throughout their life cycle—spanning from production to waste disposal and recycling. The objective is to deepen the understanding of the challenges and limitations associated with the recycling of e-plastics and to highlight the importance of these regulatory measures in achieving sustainable plastic waste management.Publicationtype: Book Part54 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Circular economy implementation: from selective measures to absolute environmental sustainabilityTightening environmental policies are forcing companies and society to transform and adopt more sustainable and circular economy (CE)-oriented practices. CE principles present an alternative approach to the dominant strategies of eco-efficiency or relative environmental sustainability, called eco-effectiveness or absolute environmental sustainability. The CE challenges the relative sustainability approach by introducing the goal of maximizing the benefit to ecological systems and increasing the positive environmental impacts (i.e., absolute environmental sustainability) rather than reducing the negative impacts and keeping the focus on eco-efficiency. Various CE definitions are commonly associated with a set of R principles, in scientific research frequently used to evaluate the CE implementation in firms. There is a growing evidence that only a selection of these principles as R strategies are implemented in firms, risking of minimizing the impacts rather than aiming for maximizing the benefits. The paper builds on the dataset of 145 circular firms and shows the selective implementation of CE principles in most cases. The eco-effectiveness of the analyzed circular firms is revealed by introducing a comprehensive circularity framework that weights-in the flow of resources, loop closure and additional generated benefits. The results reveal that current CE-related frameworks do not address the firms acting as CE enablers, i.e. providing services and products to the CE implementers.Publicationtype: Book Part22 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Key competencies for circular product developmentSustainable development goals and changing environmental policies lead the transformation of organizations to incorporate the circular economy principles and employ circular product development (CPD) practices. Consequently, this implies new competencies that need to be developed at organizational and individual level. There is lack of comprehensive understanding on the distinct competencies that are relevant for such transition, whereas the research on the competencies critical to CPD is scarce. Building on the two empirical studies involving experts and practitioners in the field of sustainability and circular economy, this chapter aims to integrate the findings for providing key competencies for CPD at the level of both an organization and an individual, and to inform on a holistic approach to competency development for CPD.Publicationtype: Book Part30