Journal
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
Volume 288, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125685
Keywords
Circular economy; Action plans; Water; Land
Categories
Funding
- European Union [776816]
- national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [UIDB/04058/2020, UIDP/04058/2020]
- Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) [UID/AMB/50017/2019]
- FCT/MCTES through national funds
- FEDER
- H2020 Societal Challenges Programme [776816] Funding Source: H2020 Societal Challenges Programme
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This article assesses the integration of water and land concerns in EU circular economy action plans and member states' national plans, finding that water and land are not major concerns in comparison to materials or waste, and their integration is inconsistent. Water is more evident in the plans of southern countries, while land concerns are much more erratic. Further efforts should be made to ensure the integration of water and land concerns in circular economy plans for a more sustainable transition.
Following the challenges of the European Union (EU), member states have adopted circular economy (CE) plans and strategies, with objectives and measures to foster circularity. Although the concept of CE refers to various natural resources such as water and land, little is known on how current CE policies are integrating these environmental resources. This article assesses how water and land concerns are embedded in the EU CE action plans issued in 2015 and 2020 and a set of nine member states' subsequent national plans. The assessment used a content analysis based on two variables, the frequency of water and land' related terms and the consistency of their inclusion within the plans. The findings reveal that neither water nor land emerge as major concerns in the CE plans, in comparison to materials or waste. Also, they are not consistently associated with the typical components of the plans namely problem-showcase, objectives, strategies and measures, stakeholders, and CE performance indicators. Nevertheless, the embeddedness of water is more evident in the plans of southern countries, whereas land concerns are much more erratic. If water and land concerns, are to be at the forefront of the transition to circularity, as the literature recommends, and if these plans are expected to offer an integrated approach of the CE concept, further efforts should be made to ensure their embeddedness. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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