Future-Proofing Capitalism: The Paradox of the Circular Economy for Plastics

The marine plastics crisis sparked a wave of corporate interest in the circular economy, a sustainable business model that aims to eliminate waste in industrial systems through recycling, reduction, reuse, and recovery. Drawing on debates about the role of corporations in global environmental governance, this article examines the rise of the circular economy as a dominant corporate sustainability concept, focusing on the flagship example of the circular economy for plastics. It argues that corporations across the plastics value chain have coordinated their efforts to contain the circular economy policy agenda, while extending their markets through developing risky circular economy technologies. These corporate strategies of containment and proliferation represent attempts to future-proof capitalism against existential threats to public legitimacy, masking the implications for environmental justice. The paradox of the circular economy is that it seems to offer radical challenges to linear take-make-waste models of industrial capitalism, backed by international legislation, but it does not actually give up on unsustainable growth. We need to tackle the plastics crisis at its root, dramatically reducing the global production of toxic and wasteful plastics.

Automated summary

The article examines how the marine plastics crisis has led to corporate interest in the circular economy as a sustainable business model to eliminate waste. It highlights how companies in the plastics sector are coordinating efforts to promote circular economy policies while protecting capitalism against threats. The article concludes by emphasizing the need to address the plastic crisis at its root by reducing global production of toxic and wasteful plastics.