Journal of Circular Economy

Outline

Abstract
Keywords
References

Circular Economy Rebound: The Third Wheel on the Date Between Circularity and Sustainability

Pierluigi Zerbino

Abstract

The Circular Economy Rebound (CER) effect is a phenomenon that can compromise the capability of a Circular Economy to achieve its intended benefits. Its occurrence can lead to firms overstating their environmental performance and being prone to greenwashing. From a broader point of view, it jeopardises sustainability and economic prosperity from the circular transition and can hinder the decoupling between production and virgin resource extraction. Thus, CER may play a pivotal role in micro and macroeconomic decision-making and policy-making in a Circular Economy. Yet, it is largely unknown, and the search for concrete solutions to limit its occurrence and mitigate its effects is strongly overlooked. Accordingly, this perspective paper aims to increase awareness about CER and tease academics, practitioners, and policymakers to join forces and develop holistic, actionable solutions to manage this detrimental unintended consequence of establishing circularity.

Keywords

Rebound; Greenwashing; Sustainability; Circular Economy

How to cite this article?

Zerbino, P. (2023). Circular Economy Rebound: The Third Wheel on the Date Between Circularity and Sustainability. Journal of Circular Economy, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.55845/UREH6873

References

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2013), Towards the Circular Economy – Opportunities for the consumers good sector, available at: https://emf.thirdlight.com/file/24/qzvD2i1qVnZjTMqzpI2qI32rGA/Towards%20the%20circular%20economy%20Vol.%202%3A%20opportunities%20for%20the%20consumer%20goods%20sector.pdf

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2014), Towards the Circular Economy – Accelerating the scale-up across global supply chains, available at: https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/Towards-thecircular-economy-volume-3.pdf

Makov, T., Vivanco, D.F. (2018), Does the circular economy grow the pie? The case of rebound effects from smartphone reuse. Frontiers in Energy Research, 6, Article 39. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00039

Zerbino, P. (2022), How to manage the Circular Economy Rebound effect: A proposal for contingency-based guidelines. Journal of Cleaner Production, 378, Article 134584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134584

Zink, T., Geyer, R. (2017), Circular economy rebound. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), pp. 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12545

Copyright info

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.