Overarching policy framework for product life extension in a circular economy—A bottom-up business perspective

Abstract

Public policy has a critical role to play in supporting business actors towards their transition to more sustainable and less resource-intensive practices within the context of a Circular Economy (CE). The European Union (EU) CE Action Plan sets a special focus on the role of business in adopting and promoting circular economic principles in their operations, and thus leading the transition towards CE. Companies need to design and adopt innovative business models that enable the capture of residual value in products. Product life extension strategies, such as re-use, hold the highest potential to retain the materials and energy embedded in products. However, companies that adopt such business practices face multiple barriers deriving from the present socio-economic conditions and find themselves in need of direct policy interventions to be able to compete with incumbent firms. This contribution identifies supporting interventions that could enable companies engaging in product life extension to scale up and lead the transition to a CE. Empirical evidence was gathered from such companies in five economic sectors in Sweden through questionnaires. Based on the results, an overarching policy framework is proposed, including wide cross-sectoral policy measures, such as (1) public procurement, (2) increased provision and access to information and (3) government leadership, setting mandatory re-use targets.