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The Relationship Between the Circular Economy and Sustainable Waste Management in European Union

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The Relationship Between the Circular Economy and Sustainable Waste Management in European Union Journal of Business Administration Research | Volume 04 | Issue 01 | January 2021 Journal of Business Administration Research http://ojs.bilpublishing.com/index.php/jbar ARTICLE The Relationship Between the Circular Economy and Sustainable Waste Management in European Union Marcuta Liviu Panait Razvan Marcuta Alina* University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest,59, Marasti BId, District 1, Bucharest, 011464, Romania ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Modern life has contributed both to increasing living standards, increas- Received: 16 December 2020 ing comfort and the development of society, but also to increasing the amount of waste that suffocates the planet and threatens the existence of Accepted: 12 January 2021 present and future generations. Among the solutions that are sought and Published Online: 31 January 2021 that are included in various programs and policies, the concept of circular economy is one that is increasingly discussed when talking about the sus- Keywords: tainable development of society. The circular economy implies a reduc- Circular economy tion of the natural resources consumed due to both recycling and their fair consumption. At the U.E. level the foundations have been laid for policies Waste aimed at waste management to ensure the application of the principles of Sustainability the circular economy. European policies Considering the importance that the quantification of the indicators for implementing the circular economy have on the elaboration of more effi- cient policies, but also on the determination of the degree of implemen- tation of this concept, in this paper we intend to analyze the evolution of these indicators from 2010-2019, in the European Union using a custom- ized version of the DPSIR model. Their analysis led us to the conclusion that although important steps have been taken towards the transition to the circular economy, there are still many aspects that need to be improved in order to achieve the proposed objectives through European policies. 1. Introduction they generate, all this taking place on the sharp reduction of natural resources and the increase of pollution. That is The emergence of modern society characterized by an why the concerns of existing decision-makers at interna- increase in population and an increase in urbanization, the tional level regarding waste management have intensified technology development of information and communica- tions, income growth accompanied by increasing living from the need to identify sustainable economic and social standards, reducing the life cycle of products as a result development solutions, which involve both the manage- of transforming the society into a society of consumption ment of raw materials and by-products, waste, energy were accompanied by the increase in the volume of waste consumed, etc., so as to ensure the conservation of limited produced, but also by their diversification and the flows resources and the protection of the environment. In this *Corresponding Author: Marcuta Alina, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest,59, Marasti BId, District 1, Bucharest, 011464, Romania; Email: [email protected] Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jbar.v4i1.2709 37 Journal of Business Administration Research | Volume 04 | Issue 01 | January 2021 context, an essential condition of the socio-economic evo- Through Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive lution of the society is represented by the way of waste 2008/98/EC on waste, EU Member States they were in- management. vited to take the necessary measures to reduce food waste The effects of the circular economy would also mean related to supply chains, to monitor the quantities of food an improvement in the quality of life and an improvement waste, but also to report on progress. in human health [6], or health and well-being are important The EU’s approach to the circular economy involves elements of economic and social development, and are promoting resource efficiency, but also reducing the im- found in the general objectives of European policies along pact on the environment by reusing products, materials with those on sustainable models consumption, ecologies or resources so that waste generation is minimal and have environmental protection [5]. pollution is reduced. At the same time the E.U. promotes The European Parliament adopted in 2015 an action ethical and fair trade, as well as the most sustainable man- plan, containing 54 measures, in order to accelerate the agement of supply chains. Actions taken can also stimu- transition to the circular economy, through which it was late investment, create a level playing field and remove intended to stimulate global competitiveness and promote barriers to the single market. sustainable economic growth and create new jobs the The circular economy does not only follow the eco- work. nomic or environmental aspects, but also the social and The Communication “Closing the Loop - An E.U. governance aspects. However, its essence is to ensure the Action Plan for the Circular Economy” - (COM (2015) recycling and reuse of materials and products, also ana- includes for the first time the definition of the circular lyzing gas emissions with a role in environmental degra- economy, which was conceived as a model of production dation [3]. and consumption involving both sharing and reuse of materials; products, their repair or renovation, as well as 2. Material and Methods their recycling.This way the “closing of the loop”, ie the The research methodology involved the study of liter- circularity, is a concept that has been proposed since 1977 ature in order to define the circular economy and identify by Stahei and Reday - Mulvey in a report entitled “The the indicators based on which it can be quantified (1), potential of to replace human labor for energy ”and which research international databases that provide information supported the idea of creating new jobs, reducing waste to calculate indicators (2), calculation, analysis and inter- and increasing economic competitiveness [7]. pretation indicators (3) and the formulation of conclusions Thus, at the E.U. level, through these policies were regarding the study (4). established criteria for implementing the principles of the The analysis followed the progress made in the E.U. on circular economy at the level of member countries, which waste management, following both economic and social proposed: reducing the amount of household waste stored; and environmental aspects, using a customized version of increasing the amount of household waste to be reused or the DPSIR model belonging to the European Environment recycled and prohibiting the storage of waste. Agency, which in its turn is an extended version of the The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is also the one that “Pressure-State-Response” model. “Created by the OECD paved the way for the circular economy. Thus, the study and which allows the creation of a vision regarding the on the circular economy shows that this is an economy decision-making context related to one or more sectors of that is restorative and regenerative by design and aims to activity.” keep products, components and materials at their highest The DPSIR model (Driving forces, Pressures, States, utility and value at all times, being inspired by nature, Impact and Responses) was proposed by the European where nothing is lost everything changes [9]. Environment Agency in 1999, in order to identify the These approaches to European policies have contin- main indicators underlying the understanding of the com- ued. Thus in 2018 through the Action Plan on the circular plex links between economic, social and environmental economy - (COM (2018) 32) were set as objectives: the systems thus the possibility of performing an integrated use of recycling, increasing the use of secondary raw ma- analysis of environmental protection activities. It was also terials, replacing chemicals of concern and reducing their used by the United Nations and subsequently adopted by use in order to improve their traceability. the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Its use Also in 2018 another European strategy for plastics in has been made in various fields such as the management a circular economy - (COM (2018) 28 aims to recycle all of agricultural systems, the management of soil resources, plastic packaging by 2030, thus ensuring the transition to water resources, marine resources, but its most frequent a more circular economy. use is related to environmental protection. EPA has added 38 Distributed under creative commons license 4.0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jbar.v4i1.2709 Journal of Business Administration Research | Volume 04 | Issue 01 | January 2021 to the existing elements other explicit issues related to hu- achieving the objectives of sustainable development, con- man health by adding the health of ecosystems, and also sidering that the indicators that characterize the circular issues related to sustainability [1]. economy are also indicators of sustainable development, Each of the five domains (Driving forces, Pressures, economic, social, environmental objectives, following State, Impact and Responses) contains sub-domains to the management of consumed resources and the resulting which specific indicators are attributed, which underlie the waste. decision-making process and which substantiate a system- The driving forces used in the model to promote the ic and dynamic vision of it.
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