Sustainability | Free Full-Text | A Review of Waste Management Decision Support Tools and Their Ability to Assess Circular Biowaste Management Systems

The circular economy has become, for many governments, institutions, companies, and environmental organisations, one of the main components of a plan to lower carbon emissions. In the circular economy, resources would be continually re-used, meaning that there would be no more mining activity or waste production. The stress is on recycling, made possible by designing products so that they can easily be taken apart.
Attention is also paid to developing an “alternative consumer culture”. In the circular economy, we would no longer own products, but would loan them. For example, a customer could pay not for lighting devices but for light, while the company remains the owner of the lighting devices and pays the electricity bill. A product thus becomes a service, which is believed to encourage businesses to improve the lifespan and recyclability of their products.
The circular economy is presented as an alternative to the “linear economy” – a term that was coined by the proponents of circularity, and which refers to the fact that industrial societies turn valuable resources into waste. However, while there’s no doubt that the current industrial model is unsustainable, the question is how different to so-called circular economy would be.
Several scientific studies (see references) describe the concept as an “idealised vision”, a “mix of various ideas from different domains”, or a “vague idea based on pseudo-scientific concepts”. There’s three main points of criticism, which we discuss below.

Key regions of Scotland, including Aberdeenshire, Tayside, Edinburgh and Glasgow could unlock up to £1bn through circular economy practices and principles, the report claimed. Aberdeenshire, for example, could generate more than £620m by overhauling waste management processes across key sectors, while Edinburgh-based breweries and distilleries could reap new benefits through reuse processes. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “These reports show the exciting potential of a circular economy where reducing waste and investing in keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible can release an estimated £1bn of economic opportunities for Tayside, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. This demonstrates the overall scale of the opportunity for Scotland. “Scotland is already leading the way with its ambitious and challenging targets for recycling which are above and beyond the EU targets. However, we want the narrative to move beyond recycling to re-use, repair and remanufacturing of items. In this light, we are currently considering next steps for introducing a deposit return scheme which will help us achieve our ambitions.”
Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan was launched in 2010 and sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for a “zero-waste society”. It includes goals to achieve a 70% recycling rate for all waste, with a maximum of 5% sent to landfill by 2025. The report notes that the numerous breweries and distilleries in Edinburgh could add £1.2m to the economy each year by sending spent grain to be used for animal feed, anaerobic digestion and energy generation. In related news, Sturgeon has also unveiled the latest projects to receive support through the nation’s Circular Economy Investment Fund. More than £700,000 will be shared across three projects which aim to reuse household appliances in house clearances in Glasgow, recycle coffee grounds into bio-oils and deploy 3D metal printing technology.
Read the full article at: www.edie.net