Sorting out Circularity

Abstract

In today’s societies of abundance, almost anything can become waste, from worn-out possessions to newly manufactured products that were never used. This is not incidental, but a direct expression of an economic logic that treats resources as endless. Growing concerns over resource security, environmental pressure and geopolitical uncertainties surrounding access to critical resources have intensified calls to rethink these systems. Several approaches and pathways have been proposed against this background, with the Circular Economy (CE) gaining prominent attention across policy, industry and academia. Yet, despite its momentum, global circularity is in decline.

This thesis examines the gap between CE visions and their realisation, through an empirical study of industrial recycling practices. Methodologically, this thesis draws on three case studies: the well-established steel recycling systems of Sweden and Austria, the formal and informal recycling sectors in Kenya, and the emergent solar panel recycling system in Sweden. Data comprises 22 on-site observations, 47 interviews, 3 focus group discussions, document analysis and complementary workshops, analysed using thematic analysis and system dynamics modelling. 

Drawing on five articles, the thesis shows that circularity is not an inherent property of so-called “circular” practices, but an emergent, multidimensional and temporally bound outcome of how they are interpreted, configured and interrelated over time. While official definitions in policy and standards legitimize almost any recirculation of material as recycling or circular, achieving circularity in practice is a context-sensitive endeavour that requires explicit consideration of trade-offs across CE objectives. Moreover, these trade-offs unfold over time, meaning that today’s recycling choices can quietly compromise future circularity. Thus, circularity requires managing not only present resource flows but also preserving future ones. With upstream decommissioning and design practices influencing the quality and quantity of materials entering recycling systems, and thereby the economic viability of investing in more specialised recovery technologies, recycling systems must remain adaptable to accommodate past, present and future material compositions and designs. 

Achieving a CE thus requires more than increasing recycling rates or improving technologies; it requires rethinking the meanings, priorities and practice configurations that determine how resources are valued, managed and circulated over time, and requires metrics and interventions that account for these trade-offs and temporal effects. This thesis makes a central contribution by extending practice studies to the practices of industrial operators and by pairing it with System Dynamics to trace how present recycling shapes future circularity. Empirically, the thesis offers a grounded account of recycling across materials, institutional settings and levels of maturity; practically, it equips policy and industry actors to evaluate and prioritise circularity with a clearer understanding of its trade-offs, both across objectives and across time. 

Link to DiVA