| Title | Setting standards for a circular economy: A challenge too far for neoliberal environmental governance? |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 2942 |
| Authors | Flynn, A; Hacking, N |
| Title | Setting standards for a circular economy: A challenge too far for neoliberal environmental governance? |
| Year | 2019 |
| Published | |
| Abstract | National and regional governments around the world are steering actors in the waste and resources management industry towards a more circular economy (CE). Such a hoped-for transition is set against a backdrop of neoliberal environmental governance. The private sector increasingly delivers outcomes via public-private initiatives. Similarly, voluntary quality assurance standards covering flows of waste and resources around the globe are increasingly central to markets and trade. The role of standards in contemporary environmental governance is critically reassessed by examining how they are involved in the upscaling or down-scaling of markets. This analysis matters to understanding how the CE is conceptualised at a range of scales and how neoliberal environmental governance can help or hinder CE development. To overcome the paucity of data on how and why public and private sector actors set and use voluntary standards for material flows, twenty-eight key actor interviews with those involved in standard setting and the CE in Europe are drawn upon. Results suggest that proponents of standards and the CE see the raising of the quality of recycled material as central to building up confidence and trust in existing and emerging markets. However, others suggest markets will always privilege cost over quality and that standards are peripheral. For the CE transition to accelerate, this research suggests that policy instruments like standards need to challenge existing neoliberal market relations rather than simply follow them. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
| https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/117305/1/A%20Flynn%20N%20Hacking%202018%20setting%20standards%20for%20circular%20post%20print.pdf |
Similar Articles
| ID | Score | Article |
|---|---|---|
2478
|
Flynn, A; Hacking, N; Xie, LJ Governance of the circular economy: A comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom(2019) | |
| 28318
|
Fitch-Roy, O; Benson, D; Monciardini, D Going around in circles? Conceptual recycling, patching and policy layering in the EU circular economy package(2020)Environmental Politics, 29.0, 6 | |
| 443
|
Chenavaz, RY; Dimitrov, S From waste to wealth: Policies to promote the circular economy(2024) | |
| 4480
|
Maitre-Ekern, E The Choice of Regulatory Instruments for a Circular Economy(2017) | |
| 27272
|
Jora, OD; Patruti, A; Iacob, M; Sancariuc, DR Squaring the Circle-The Disregarded Institutional Theory and the Distorted Practice of Packaging Waste Recycling in Romania(2020)Sustainability, 12.0, 22 | |
| 26353
|
Steenmans, K; Malcolm, R Transitioning towards circular systems: property rights in waste(2020)Journal Of Property Planning And Environmental Law, 12, 3 | |
| 3111
|
Fletcher, CA; Dunk, RM In The Search For Effective Waste Policy: Alignment Of Uk Waste Strategy With The Circular Economy(2018) | |
| 1041
|
Snellinx, S; Van Meensel, J; Farahbakhsh, S; Bourgeois, L; Mertens, A; Lauwers, L; Buysse, J Waste treatment company decision-making in a complex system of markets influenced by the circular economy(2021) | |
| 4717
|
Dagiliene, L; Frendzel, M; Sutiene, K; Wnuk-Pel, T Wise managers think about circular economy, wiser report and analyze it. Research of environmental reporting practices in EU manufacturing companies(2020) | |
| 3851
|
Chioatto, E; Sospiro, P Transition from waste management to circular economy: the European Union roadmap(2023)Environment Development And Sustainability, 25, 1 |