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- Harala, Linnea, et al.
(författare)
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Industrial ecosystem renewal towards circularity to achieve the benefits of reuse- Learning from circular construction
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 389, s. 135885-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To enable an industry-level transition towards the circular economy, complementary companies and other actors from the focal industry sector, resembling an industrial ecosystem, can jointly increase circulation via reuse or recycling in the system. Although all involved actors must benefit from doing so if their engagement is to be secured, little is known about how industrial ecosystem renewal towards circularity creates benefits. Therefore, this study aims to contribute by applying ecosystem and circular industry development approaches to examine how industrial ecosystems change towards circularity, particularly in regard to the little-studied reuse principle, and identify the diverse benefits of an industry's shift towards circularity via reuse. Thus, this study examines changing industrial ecosystems in the construction industry which have high environmental impacts and focuses on the needed changes to the roles, interactions, and perceptions of ecosystem actors and the diverse benefits gained by increased reuse at company, industry, and societal levels. We conducted an extensive multiple-case study of two industrial ecosystems, namely pilot projects addressing concrete-element reuse, in Finland and Sweden and gathered extensive data covering over 20 interviews, over 18 months of ethnography, and over 300 documents. Our findings show that industrial ecosystems' renewal towards circularity requires changes in the ecosystem actors' roles (role expansions and emergence of new roles), interactions (communication, collabo-ration mindset, utilization of tools), and perceptions (understanding the value of circulated resources, design thinking, and change resistance to conformity). We found that such changes towards circularity generate benefits at the micro level to companies (direct business, competence, and work satisfaction benefits), at the meso level to the industry (environmental, competition, and industry feasibility benefits) and at the macro level to society (environment and employment benefits). Pragmatically, we provide insights and tools for development, business, and sustainability managers, industry associations, and policymakers seeking an increase in circular practices and principles among the industry sectors, involved companies, and surrounding society. Our study contributes to industry-level and sectoral circular economy transformation, reuse, circular construction, and ecosystem research.
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| 2. |
- Närvänen, Elina, et al.
(författare)
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The assembling of circular consumption: A sociomaterial practice approach
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Routledge Handbook of Catalysts for a Sustainable Circular Economy. - 9781032212449 - 9781003267492 ; , s. 535-549
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The role of consumers in a circular economy (CE) is crucial but not well understood in the literature. For consumers to become catalysts in a CE, people need to understand how and under what conditions circular consumption is made possible. This chapter conceptualises the sociomaterial assembling of circular consumption, which refers to the process in which heterogeneous elements – meanings, materialities, and competencies – constantly form relations with and shape one another. This chapter also illustrates how this assembling requires a considerable amount of work from consumers. It focuses on the context of fashion, in which more circular production and consumption patterns are urgently needed. Our approach is inspired by narrative knowing, and it builds on qualitative data from a research project in Finland. Each of the narratives follows the biography of the same garment but represents an alternative circular consumption scenario: reducing, reusing, or recycling. The chapter contributes to the literature on circular consumption and has practical implications for involving consumers as catalysts in a CE.
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