Challenges of the Knowledge Society (May 2024)
RECYCLING - VECTOR OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY. SYSTEM ANALYSIS FROM THE BOTTLENECK THEORY PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
The objective of the European Union, as a major player on the global socio-economic and political scene, as set out in the European Green Pact, is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, while ensuring an equitable and socially inclusive economic framework and context. The circular economy has thus become mainstream, attracting the attention of academia, the media and of the responsible socio-economic and political actors at a national, European and international level. Thus, a new trajectory of consumption has emerged: buy - use - repair/recycle - reuse, a paradigm which is the very hypothesis of this study. This is because, despite favorable auspices, the transition to the circular economy has not performed well in recent years and recycling, a key driver of the circular economy, has not performed as expected. In this context, there is a question that has not yet been clearly and generally answered - Why has the recycling process failed to reach the expected level? Based on this situation, the general objective of the study is to identify the causes that lead to the blockage of the recycling process, which will create the prerequisites for identifying solutions that will lead to the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole system. To this end, a qualitative analysis, based on both theoretical and empirical perspectives, of the recycling system through the lens of bottlenecks theory was conducted. Given the still precarious environmental culture and the reluctance of most producers and consumers towards the environment and the climate change threat, this study aims to contribute to identifying, raising awareness and popularising the role that circular economy stakeholders in general, and recycling stakeholders in particular, can play in ensuring sustainable micro-, meso-, macro-, euro- and global economic development. As a specific objective, the study aims to contribute to encouraging recycling and minimising waste disposal.
