Author Petty Pumsleitner, B.A. Submission Institute for Integrated Quality Design (IQD) Thesis Supervisor Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erik G. Hansen Assistant Thesis Supervisor STANDARDS FOR THE Ferdinand Revellio, M.Sc. CIRCULAR ECONOMY November 2020 Master’s Thesis to confer the academic degree of Master of Science in the Master’s Program General Management JOHANNES KEPLER UNIVERSITY LINZ Altenberger Straße 69 4040 Linz, Austria jku.at DVR 0093696 STATUTORY DECLARATION I hereby declare under oath that the submitted Master’s Thesis has been written solely by me without any third-party assistance (except for proofreading), information other than provided sources or aids have not been used and those used have been fully documented. Sources for literal, paraphrased and cited quotes have been accurately credited. If I have used the exact words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of someone else, I have enclosed that information in quotation marks. If I have paraphrased the opinions of someone else, I have not enclosed the paraphrase in quotation marks, but I have stated those opinions in my own words and put a reference at the end of it. I agree that the university uses the digital version of this work for an electronic plagiarism check using suitable software, and that for technical reasons my work may be stored in a database. The submitted document here present is identical to the electronically submitted text document. St. Peter in der Au, November 2020 _______________ Petty Pumsleitner November 12, 2020 Petty Pumsleitner I GENDER CLAUSE In order to enhance the readability of this Master’s Thesis, the masculine form for descriptions and formulations was used. It certainly does not imply any discrimination against the other sex. Women and men should be regarded equal. November 12, 2020 Petty Pumsleitner II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Due to the limits of the linear economy with the take-make-waste process, a transition towards Circular Economy is vital. Withal, standardization is one main important means to pave the way for Circular Economy. Standards comprise the latest and commonly agreed knowledge and specifications from technology, science and practical experience and do not just serve for quality control, environmental- and labour protection, they also regulate international trade and promote innovation and higher perception for stakeholders in almost all branches. For this reason, the Master Thesis elaborates the fundamentals of Circular Economy on the one hand and fundamentals of standardization on the other hand and merges both topics to determine and comprehend standardization for the Circular Economy. Therefore, early and recent developments of Circular Economy are depicted, and different schools of thought are emphasized, such as Cradle-to-Cradle or the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Latter mentioned organization brought up the so-called Butterfly Diagram to constitute how technical and biological nutrients are allocated across the economic cycle, which indicates a closed-loop system to keep materials and products as long as possible in the value chain. Thus, reducing the usage of resources by extending the product life and utilization of materials. This will lead to entire new business models and processes within organizations, which can be supported with profound standards and comprehensive guidelines for a sustainable implementation of Circular Economy. In order to find conclusive results and appropriate standards, a quantitative and qualitative research approach was chosen (scanning for standards in the internet, action research with unstructured interviews with DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung, ASI Austrian Standards International and QA Quality Austria), which leaded to a comprehensive understanding of the topic and brought up insights from latest projects and activities in the field of standardization for Circular Economy. The research investigation for this Master Thesis led to findings that are sub-divided into a) quantitative depiction of standards mapped to the Ellen MacArthur Framework – the Butterfly Diagram, b) qualitative depiction of selected standards and guidelines (coverage of more than fifty percent of the categories of the Butterfly Diagram) and c) latest standardization initiatives for Circular Economy. In conclusion, this Master Thesis provides valuable results to gain elementary knowledge about existing and future standards to lead the transition towards Circular Economy. November 12, 2020 Petty Pumsleitner III Table of Contents List of figures ................................................................................................................................ VI List of tables ................................................................................................................................ VII List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................... VIII 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Research problem and relevance ................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research aim and questions .......................................................................................... 2 1.3. Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................................... 3 2. Standardization and the Circular Economy ............................................................................ 5 2.1. Fundamentals of Circular Economy ................................................................................ 5 2.1.1. Early development of Circular Economy .............................................................. 5 2.1.2. From linear to circular loops ................................................................................ 6 2.1.3. Recent development of Circular Economy .......................................................... 7 2.1.4. Implementation strategies .................................................................................... 9 2.2. Fundamentals of standardization .................................................................................. 13 2.2.1. Objectives and key benefits ............................................................................... 13 2.2.2. Types of deliverables ......................................................................................... 15 2.2.3. Organizations for standardization ...................................................................... 17 2.2.4. Development process and conformity assessment ........................................... 21 2.3. Standardization of Circular Economy ............................................................................ 24 2.3.1. The European Approach .................................................................................... 24 2.3.2. Standardization efforts ....................................................................................... 27 3. Conceptual framework ......................................................................................................... 33 4. Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 35 4.1. Research design ........................................................................................................... 35 4.2. Research method .......................................................................................................... 36 4.2.1. Creation of reference model .............................................................................. 36 4.2.2. Data collection ................................................................................................... 36 4.2.2.1. Quantitative data collection – scanning for standards ........................ 36 4.2.2.2. Qualitative data collection – action research ...................................... 38 4.2.3. Data analysis ..................................................................................................... 41 4.2.4. Data interpretation ............................................................................................. 43 5. Results ................................................................................................................................. 44 5.1. Standards for the Circular Economy ............................................................................. 44 5.1.1. Overview of results ............................................................................................ 44 November 12, 2020 Petty Pumsleitner IV 5.1.2. Level 1: Total sample ........................................................................................ 45 5.1.3. Level 2: Selected sample – EMF categories ..................................................... 46 5.1.3.1. EMF Ellen MacArthur Framework – Technical Cycle ......................... 46 5.1.3.2. EMF Ellen MacArthur Framework – Biological Cycle ......................... 50 5.1.3.3. Comparison with Perinorm and DIN Infopoint ..................................... 53 5.1.4. Level 3: Selected sample – Coverage of >50% of EMF categories ................... 55 5.2. Circular Economy Standards in Detail and Development Process ............................... 56 5.2.1. BS 8001:2017 Framework for implementing the principles of the Circular Economy in organizations .................................................................................