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H2020Doctoral network2018–2021

CRESTING · CiRcular Economy: SusTainability Implications and guidING progress

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2018-01-01 → 2021-12-31
EU contribution
€3,854,798
Participants
23
Scheme
MSCA-ITN-ETN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

CiRcular Economy: SusTainability Implications and guidING progress

Establishing a circular economy (CE) to optimise resource use whilst minimising waste generation and pollutant release, is a major policy area within the European Union (EU) and beyond. Explicitly seen as increasing economic competitiveness and laying a foundation for environmental employment, current CE policies are intended to increase resource efficiency and decrease carbon emissions. The CRESTING project (Circular Economy: Sustainability Implications and Guiding Progress) recruited 15 Early Stage Researchers for training in cutting edge analysis of CE-related activities and initiatives in a range of geographic and socio-economic settings. Our aim was to critically assess, and generate lessons for managing, the transformation to a CE. Research questions: 1. To what extent are CE-practices already occurring in public and private sector policy and practice? 2. What are the environmental, social and economic implications of developing a CE, and how do these vary by scale? 3. How can current CE practice be applied in different geographic/industry contexts? 4. What methodologies of impact measurement and sustainability indicators can be developed for public and/or private sector organisations in the context of a CE? 5. How can a CE in practice be understood beyond the policy and other aspirational definitions of the term?

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

CRESTING will train Early Stage Researchers (ESR) in cutting edge systematic analysis of the process of transformation to a Circular Economy (CE). Establishing a CE (such that the maximum value is extracted from materials and waste generation minimised) is a major policy area within the European Union and elsewhere. Explicitly seen as increasing economic competitiveness and laying a foundation for environmental employment, CE policies are designed to increase resource efficiency and decrease carbon dependency. Previous and ongoing research into the CE, however, has been largely concerned with strategies for implementation. The many different fields of activity comprising the CE (e.g., re-use, recovery, recycling, eco-design amongst others) operate with varying degrees of effectiveness in different places and for different materials. These fields of activity have not been critically analysed as an interrelated social, technical, environmental and, significantly, spatial phenomenon. This programme will advance the critical analysis of the concept and sustainability implications of the CE by the training of 15 ESR analysing CE-related activity and initiatives in a range of geographic and economic settings. CRESTING is divided between 5 work packages (WP) analysing: current discourse and policy contexts (WP1); corporate engagement with the CE (WP2); public sector engagement in the CE (WP3); the potential for local economic development and employment from the CE (WP4); and measuring life cycle impacts and developing sustainability indicators relevant to the CE (WP5). With multidisciplinary and international supervisory teams including non-academic partners within each WP, CRESTING will 1) analyse the sustainability implications of the CE; 2) analyse the spatial dimension of the CE and 3) translate these analyses into specific actions for managing the transformation to the CE.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITY OF HULL · HullCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
  • APTAR Italia SpA · PescaraItaly
  • Amt der steiermärkischen Landesregierung (Office of the Regional Government of Styria) · Graz-BurgAustria
  • ECOINNOVAZIONE SRL · BolognaItaly
  • Environmental and Management Solutions Ltd · LondonUnited Kingdom
  • IDEE ALSACE - INITIATIVES DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE ALSACE · SCHILTIGHEIMFrance
  • IPOINT-SYSTEMS GMBH · ReutlingenGermany
  • KINGSTON UPON HULL CITY COUNCIL · KINGSTON UPON HULLUnited Kingdom
  • MINISTERIE VAN INFRASTRUCTUUR EN WATERSTAAT · Den HaagNetherlands
  • Mangiatorella SpA · SaponaraItaly
  • NANJING UNIVERSITY · NANJINGChina
  • NOVA ID FCT - ASSOCIACAO PARA A INOVACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DA FCT · CaparicaPortugal
  • SAUBERMACHER DIENSTLEISTUNGS AG · FeldkirchenAustria
  • Secretaria-Geral do Ministério do Ambiente (Ministry of Environment, Republica Portuguesa) · LisbonPortugal
  • THE WASTE AND RESOURCES ACTION PROGRAMME · Banbury OxfordshireUnited Kingdom
  • Taiwan CE Network · TaipeiTaiwan
  • UNIVERSIDADE ABERTA · LisboaPortugal
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MESSINA · MessinaItaly
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO DI CHIETI-PESCARA · ChietiItaly
  • UNIVERSITAET GRAZ · GrazAustria
  • UNIVERSITE DE TECHNOLOGIE DE TROYES · TroyesFrance
  • UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT · UtrechtNetherlands
  • UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN · IbadanNigeria

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union