Chapter 2: Literature Review
This dissertation topic will therefore seek to build on the current level of research to explore the relationship between the circular economy and sustainability by considering its impacts on business models and innovation (Geissdoerfer et al 2017).
The two main concepts which will be examined in this piece of research will be sustainability and the Circular Economy which will firstly be evaluated as separate concepts before the relationship between the two is further explored.
2.1 Sustainability
The concept of sustainability has led to a plethora of definitions which include the concepts of the conservation of finite resources, biodiversity and ecosystems (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Galaz 2012; Rockstrom et al 2009); the need to address current levels of production and consumption to deliver a quality of life for both current and future generations; the issue of inequality and how economic growth needs to be achieved within the parameters of ecosystems and become less exploitative of these (Mulvihill and Harris Ali 2017; Galaz et al 2012; Rockstrom et al 2009).
The concept of sustainability can therefore be presented as the tensions which occur between population, consumption and technologies which has an environmental impact (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Dobson 2016; Moreno et al 2016; Eggleton 2013). The use of these variables of population, consumption and technologies supports a range of perspectives as regards sustainability which not only include the relationship between these, such as the relationship between growing population and its impact on consumption, but may also undertake a particular area of focus such as the increasing breadth of research regarding the role of science and technology in decreasing social inequalities and increasing environmental resilience (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Braungart and McDonough 2009; Beder 2006). The complexity of the relationships between these variables of population, consumption and technologies relates to the dynamics and interdependencies between these and these may see the concepts of sustainable development and environment being depicted as trade-offs (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Moreno et al 2016; Sachs 2015). However, this inherent difficulty in the approach to sustainability was addressed by the Brundtland Report (1987) which states that sustainability should not be seen as a trade-off between economic and societal development and the environment, but rather as a boundary as to how these issues can be addressed without creating detrimental harm to the earth and thus negatively impa