4.1.2 Differences between sustainability and the Circular Economy
The differences between sustainability and the Circular Economy can be based upon a range of issues including the different held perspectives such as a focus on the environment; the goals and motivations of the stakeholder; the priorities of the business; the benefits to stakeholders; the timeframes and the acceptance of responsibilities (figure i) (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Geissdoerfer et al 2017).
Figure i) Selected differences between Sustainability and the Circular Economy (adapted from Geissdoerfer et al 2017).
Sustainability | Circular Economy | |
Origins of the term | Environmental perspective; government and non-government organisations (Geissdoerfer et al 2017; Mulvihill and Harris Ali 2017) | Different schools of thought including cradle-to-cradle; political agendas; regulations (Dobson 2016) |
Goals | Open-ended dependent on a variety of stakeholder interests (Crane and Matten 2016) | Closed loop with elimination of resource emissions as the primary goal (Braungart and McDonough 2009) |
Main motivation | Diverse and adaptive (Geissdoerfer et al 2017) | Better resource use through a shift from linear to circular production and consumption patterns (Braungart and McDonough 2009) |
System priority | Triple bottom line (horizontal) (Blowfield and Murray 2014) | Economic system (hierarchical) (Geissdoerfer et al 2017) |
Who benefits | Environment, society and the economy (Crane and Matten 2016) | Economic actors and then the economy and environment. Societal stakeholders benefit from the improvements undertaken by the circular economy (Pauli 2017) |
How it is institutionalised | Different perspectives can be adapted to different contexts (Blowfield and Murray 2014) | Emphasizes the economic and environmental benefits (restoration and regeneration) (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2017a) |
Influenced by | A range of stakeholders (Crane and Matten 2016; Blowfield and Murray 2014) | Governments; businesses; non-government agencies (Pauli 2017; Geissdoerfer et al 2017) |
Timeframe | Indefinite with no defined end (Lewis and Maslin 2018) | Theoretical and practical limits to the implementation of the Circular Economy could provide the timeframe based upon current levels of knowledge (Moreno et al 2016) |
Perceptions of Responsibilities | Shared responsibilities with a lack of clear definitions (United Nations SDGs 2019) | Private business; regulators and policymakers (Moreno et al 2016) |
Commitments. Goals, and interests behind the use of the terms | Stakeholder interest aligned in areas such as reduction in waste being beneficial for the environment (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Geissdoerfer et al 2017) | Economic and financial benefits for businesses; less resource use and environmental degradation and pollution (Pauli 2017; Moreno et al 2016) |
There are also differences in the goals of sustainability and the Circular Economy (Geissdoerfer et al 2017). For example, the secondary research indicates that the goals of sustainability tend to be open-ended and require the need to adapt to changes in the environment and societal needs (Blowfield and Murray 2014). In contrast to this, the objective of the Circular Economy is to develop a closed loop based upon the regeneration
