New article on an integrated environmental-economic circular economy assessment applied to the case of expanded polystyrene
Assessments that integrate different sustainability dimensions are lacking yet necessary to facilitate the implementation of Circular Economy (CE). The new paper by Anna Kulakovskaya, Maja Wiprächtiger, Christof Knoeri and Catharina Bening suggests a novel approach that evaluates and integrates the environmental and economic dimensions of CE at the value-chain level.
Circular Economy (CE), despite its great potential, is often challenged for not being sustainable from an environmental, economic and social perspective, or at least not in all dimensions simultaneously. Therefore, assessments that integrate different sustainability dimensions are necessary to facilitate CE implementation, particularly before entire value chains are reconfigured or incentivized to do so.
However, integrated CE assessment methods remain scarce, especially at a value-chain level. This article aims to bridge this gap by suggesting an approach that evaluates and integrates the environmental and economic impacts of implementing CE at the value-chain level. The approach is based on material flow analysis, life-cycle assessment, life-cycle costing, and scenario development.
The application of the approach to the expanded polystyrene (EPS) value chain revealed that EPS recycling can be environmentally and economically beneficial in the long term. The approach was developed to support political and industrial decision-makers seeking to implement a sustainable CE.
The article was co-authored by Anna Kulakovskaya, Maja Wiprächtiger, Christof Knoeri, and Catharina R. Bening. You can find the full article Download here.