Visions of a Circular Future: What Type of Circular Economy Is Developing in South Australia?

Circular economy is an influential concept with increasing policy adoption.  However, a diversity of narratives within the field obfuscates what policymakers mean when using this term. This research maps four circular future scenarios via a Narrative Policy Framework, as a method for investigating the type of circular economy envisioned within a policy. The policy document used to test this method is the South Australia Waste Strategy 2020-2025, in which South Australia is positioned as a global leader in circular economy transition. The data analysis found a bias towards centralised and techno-optimistic policy narratives where government and waste management industry characters are portrayed as “heroes”, with uninformed individuals cast as potential “villains”. Policymakers are recommended to draw from circular future narratives that empower more stakeholders and promote resilience through decentralised circular economy strategies. Research opportunities include cross-case comparisons, automated coding, and codebook expansion, to include inanimate characters such as enabling socio-technologies.

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John Devlin[1][*], James Hopeward[1], Keri Hopeward[1], Christopher Saint[1]

• [1] University of South Australia, STEM, Mawson Lakes Blvd, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, 5095
• ^[*]Corresponding author: [email protected]