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Energy subsidy reform is crucial for nations aiming to transition towards a circular economy. This study examines the relationship between energy subsidies and economic growth in Malaysia from 1978 to 2019, using Autoregressive Distributed Lag, Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag and Multi Threshold Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag models. The study addresses three key objectives: understanding the influence of energy subsidies on economic growth, assessing their asymmetric impact and investigating how they interact with oil prices and energy usage to affect economic growth. The findings reveal several significant relationships. First, energy subsidies exhibit a negative association with economic growth. Second, while energy consumption positively contributes to economic growth, this relationship weakens in the presence of energy subsidies. Third, oil prices have a greater positive impact on economic growth when interacting with energy subsidies. Fourth, reducing energy subsidies leads to a more substantial positive impact on economic growth compared to increasing them. Overall, the presence of energy subsidies in the economy impedes economic growth. We recommend implementing energy subsidy rationalization measures. Malaysia should also prioritize the development of a comprehensive renewable energy master plan to bolster domestic production and consumption, redirecting subsidy funds towards sustainable energy sources and fostering a circular economy.

Circular economy aims recycling in the production process instead of destroying the products. With the help of this situation, waste can be considered in the remanufacturing process so that the rate of consumption of natural resources can be decreased. It is necessary to focus on certain investment issues to achieve a circular economy, but all investments have some risks. Hence, the economies should make priority analysis to take efficient actions. Investment priorities are identified to have circular economy. A novel fuzzy decision-making model has been created for this purpose. In the first stage, balanced scorecard criteria are evaluated with the help of multi stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (M-SWARA). Later, the multidimensional investment priorities of circular economy are ranked. In this context, elimination and choice translating reality (ELECTRE) approach is taken into consideration. The main contribution of the paper is that a new methodology is created by the name of M-SWARA. Owing to these new improvements, cause and effect relationship among the items can be analyzed. It is identified that financial issues play the most crucial role for investments to improve circular economy. On the other side, it is also concluded that remanufacturing is the most significant investment alternative to develop circular economy. For the sustainability of the investment to improve circular economy, necessary financial analysis should be performed. With the help of this situation, these substances can be reintroduced into the production process in the form of raw materials. With the increase of remanufacturing, it will be possible to reduce waste and save scarce material resources.

In this research, we present a framework for blended Islamic finance for impactful small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). The blend results from discussing the pertinent perspectives that underlie the motives of philanthropy, private sector activities and public sector facilitation. The consensus of these three stakeholders on the impact criteria is an essential precondition for the blend to happen. Therefore, we first developed the consensus-based impact criteria for SMEs, namely, 4Zeros & SS (zero-waste, zero-emissions, zero-interest, zero-foreclosures and service to society). After that, we adopted a financial engineering approach to design products by blending the three motives. Financial contracts could be incentive compatible and effective if these three motivations are recognized and brought together. The purpose of our research is to offer such incentive-compatible structures that can mobilize funding for impactful SMEs, save cost as well as generate revenue for self-sustainability. In the contract design, the private sector provides finance, the philanthropist pays the costs of funds, the public sector facilitates, and the impactful SME gets subsidized financing. Since the blended nature of the contract provides a social subsidy to fund the cost element of the financing, the proposed structure creates a win–win result for the blending parties. While financial institutions expand into the SMEs sector for profitability, blended Islamic finance will attract additional resources toward enhancing development impact. Through the philanthropic component, SMEs, on the other hand, will access the source of social subsidy that will relieve the burden of the exorbitant commercial rates. The funding structure will reduce risk perception and spur growth.

Consequently, this collaborative and innovative contract design will contribute to achieving multidimensional human development, as enshrined in the Maqasid al-Shariah, and the SDGs. Impactful businesses must integrate environmental, social and governance best practices as well as national development goals. Hence, the proposal offers several benefits and prospects of extended use for other consensus-based purposes such as low-cost housing, solar panelling, health, education, etc.

In this study, hydroxyapatite (HA) was extracted from biological waste. HA was modified by N,N-diglycidylaniline (NDY) and DOPO-HQ to obtain the flame retardant which was added to epoxy resin (EP) to prepare the composite. The flame retardancy of the composites was measured by the horizontal and vertical combustion tester (UL-94) and the limiting oxygen index (LOI), the thermal property was carried out by the thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and the surface morphology was observed by the field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). The UL-94 grade of pure EP is a fail grade, and the LOI value was 22%. After adding HA-NDY-DOPOHQ (weight ratio 1:2:1) 40wt.% flame retardant, the UL-94 grade of the composites was raised to V-1, and the LOI value promoted to 28%, a total increase of 6%. Composite materials had excellent thermal stability and flame retardancy and could be used in fireproof panels for energy storage systems to prevent thermal runaway, and could also be used in building materials.

Based on China’s green energy development strategy, this paper constructs a basic model of recycling and a channel expansion model for the circular economy foundation of Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, China. Through numerical simulation, it is found that each member of the supply chain should control the rate of price adjustment, otherwise it will cause market disruption. The model is controlled based on a chaos control method. Then, based on the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, an early warning system for the circular economy of Zaozhuang City is constructed. It is found that the economic development of Zaozhuang is a serious warning, resources are moderate warning, and the environment is not in an alarm state. In addition to paying attention to energy conservation and emission reduction of enterprises, the government should pay attention to creating awareness of energy conservation and emission reduction in society, and strengthen the technological investment in reducing pollutant emissions. This paper provides a strategic reference for the circular economy model in Zaozhuang, Shandong, China.

Today’s smart and sustainable agricultural enterprises are founded on the intercorrelation between Industry 4.0 (I4) technologies and circular economy (CE) fundaments. At the industrial level, it is mandatory to constrain the design, operation, and control of the next generation of manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain systems that respect economic, environmental, and social aspects. At the individual level, behaviours and preferences require re-do (as recycling) and a re-do-not (as rethinking) actions to reduce human inefficiencies and excesses in the economy and impacts on the environment. Both industrial and individual levels are responsible for the growth of a harmonious industry and society into a new I4–CE mandate intertwined with sustainable development concerns. Particularly, this paper reveals how the state-of-the-art I4 technologies could promote CE initiatives in the agriculture industry by addressing such technologies as a foundation for the so-called precision agriculture (PA). The outcomes of this paper are as follows: (a) address the mutually advantageous linkage between PA and CE; (b) detailed knowledge of the potential contributions of PA technologies to the regenerate, share, optimise, loop, virtualise, and exchange (ReSOLVE) as a CE model; (c) propose an action plan for future study integrating smart PA and CE principles based on green supply chain management theories.

An important but unexplored research issue is understanding how digital innovation ecosystem and a quintuple helix model can support the promotion of Circular Economy. Circular Economy, however, is intrinsically linked to the innovation issue. It can occur in a productive and consumption system under the form of a new product, process, organizational or marketing model. In the meantime, the digital innovation ecosystem debate was enriched by the social and environmental sustainability perspectives that are the pillars of the Circular Economy theory. Despite this, the research has failed to achieve full comprehension of digital innovation ecosystems’ dynamics and processes for the Circular Economy, by highlighting the need for deeper understanding. Under the above assumptions, this paper presents the evidence of a single and extreme case study related to the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP). This is shown as good practice of a digital platform for stakeholders’ engagement, supporting the creation of a digital innovation ecosystem focused on the Circular Economy. We conclude by deriving implications for researchers and policy makers’ agendas.

This study contributes to determining key attributes of the physical internet (PI) in circular economy (CE) as prior studies failed to explore the interrelationships among these attributes. The perspective of a CE is suitable to adopt the PI with an objective of obtaining global logistics networks formed on physical, digital and operational interconnectivity. This study attempts to propose a set of attributes in CE which is usually with qualitative analysis. The research results reveal multidisciplinary collaboration and technological advancement influence digital interoperability and physical infrastructure. Top criteria include Internet of Things, central orchestrator, alignment of resources, big data and blockchain.

Within the research field of innovation management, the so-called circular-oriented innovations are focused on combining circular economy tenets within the development of innovation. Even though academia agrees that an economic transition has to develop from the bottom up, studying the implementation of circular economy on micro-level has been thus far neglected. Thus, the paper examines the circular-oriented innovation specific activities within the general innovation process and its distinct phases. Via multiple case study, the paper analyses the development of innovations suitable for the biological cycle of circular economy in the industry of biodegradable plastic substitutes. The findings show that circular economy aspects influence the innovation development from its very beginning. Starting from the triggering of idea generation, the end-of-life considerations and material choice show high importance in the front-end of innovation. Moreover, the research shows the high importance of cross-cycle and cross-sector collaborations throughout the entire development process.

To implement a circular economy (CE), companies are pushed to innovate, respectively, their business models, from a micro-perspective, and their supply chains, from a meso-perspective. Despite the increasing research on both these perspectives, there is still a knowledge gap on how companies innovate business models and supply chains for circularity. In this study, we build on innovation management, circular business model (CBM), and circular supply chain (CSC) literatures and develop a theory-based framework where circularity leads to product/process/service innovation from a micro-perspective, and to possible innovation in companies’ supply chains (retaining existing chains/renewing them) from a meso-perspective. Through a multiple-case study of Finnish and Italian CE pioneer companies, we validate this framework, find evidence on interplay between CBM and CSC innovation, and identify innovation strategy variants. The framework contributes to innovation management, CBM, and CSC literature works, and encourages managers willing to adopt circularity to consider innovating simultaneously both their business models and supply chains.

Multilevel linkages and collaborative synergy are critical components of the circular economy (CE). Industry 4.0 technologies, in particular blockchain technology (BT), have the potential to enable and facilitate such relationships. This qualitative study goes beyond earlier isolated investigations by examining micro-, meso-, and macrolevel actors in the CE with an emphasis on BT adoption. Analysis of interview data collected over three years suggests that BT might help tackling microlevel traceability issues through safe data sharing, benefiting simultaneously mesolevel entities through better material management and cost efficiency. Policymakers could use BT to standardise and make data more transparent at the macrolevel, increasing trust and public engagement. This study offers insights on how players may need to adjust and collaborate across domains for a more transparent and decentralised adoption of CE by drawing on the findings at each level. Suggestions for future research directions are also provided.

Appropriate measurement of environmental performance and emission allowances in circular economy is of great significance for promoting sustainable development. Due to the vagueness involved in many circular indicators, a fuzzy network data envelopment analysis model for the carbon emission abatement (CEA) allocation of a recycling production system is proposed in this work. The proposed model employed the concept of environmental efficiency analysis while allocating the optimal CEA levels from a circular economy perspective. An empirical application to the CEA allocation of European Union (EU) countries is studied. Our results provide the EU policy makers and legislators a valuable information for emission allowances management in a fuzzy environment.

There is a growing concern among consumers for preserving the environment without compromising the current lifestyle. In this context, organizations are looking for a sustainable business model that can fulfil their business objectives effectively. The concept of the circular economy is emerging as a solution that can help the minimization of the ill effect of industrialization. The circular economy is efficiently adopted and implemented through circular practices. However, the adoption of circular economy practices is not easy for the industries, and it requires a comprehensive strategy. Therefore, this study aims to identify and evaluate the key strategies to accomplish circular economy practices in the present-day context. In order to fulfil the research objective, this study identified 11 significant strategies that are needed for the adoption of circular economy practices. These strategies are identified using an integrated approach of the literature review and focus group discussion with experts. Further, these key strategies are evaluated using the fuzzy DEMATEL and developed a causal relationship among the strategies. The applied method has also classified the strategies into cause and effect group. The cause group comprises the five strategies, while effect group contain the six strategies. The finding suggests that “management involvement, support and commitment” and “creating a vision and goals for circular economy” are prominent strategies. This study will facilitate the managers to make the action plan for implementing the circular practices in order to shift towards the circular economy.

The concept of circular economy (CE) attracts the attention of industries and academia; however, the implementation of CE faces many barriers. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize significant barriers toward the implementation of CE. In order to accomplish these objectives, the barriers of CE implementation are identified through an extensive literature review and finalized through experts’ inputs. After finalizing the barriers, we appropriately applied a fuzzy CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) approach to prioritize the barriers. Further, the identified barriers are analyzed using the Pareto rule. The results suggest that laws and regulations-related barriers and management-related barriers are the most critical barriers toward the implementation of a circular economy. Further, the lack of environmental laws and regulations, insufficient financial resources, lack of financial incentives and a higher cost related to recycled materials in the supply chain are the most significant barriers in industries. The novelty of this paper is that the identified barriers toward the implementation of CE are generic as well as industry-specific.

Despite growing evidence of general patterns of urban development, urban planning and policy have remained largely normative, still lacking the conceptual frameworks and technical tools to learn cumulatively from work around the world and to extrapolate to entirely new situations, such as future sustainable cities. I argue here that a deeper understanding of urban processes using scientific methods appropriate to the study of cities and human development provides a host of new concepts and tools for this purpose. The present discussion gives a brief overview of the emerging conceptual and empirical basis for these findings. It illustrates the approach with the description of two conceptual tools, (i) the human-centric city, and (ii) the circularity diagram for material flows. These tools show how fundamental urban concepts can be articulated to analyze specific contextual situations and expand equity and sustainability in explicitly diverse, connected, and fast-changing cities.

Food waste (FW) and food loss (FL) account for 20–30% of total food production and are created throughout the food supply chain. These are associated with additional losses related to energy, water, labour, and other resources employed by the food industry. The water–energy–food nexus explains the need for their joint optimisation. The valorisation of FWL is the second most crucial strategy after avoiding its formation. It can be directed to various chemicals, fuels, and materials through different biorefinery processes. Integrated biorefineries are seen as the most efficient tools for this transformation. Their design and implementation are carried out respecting its sustainability and, thus, contributing to the global circular economy. This chapter presents various biorefinery strategies and final products from FWL identical to those from petrochemicals or substitutes for different products obtained from fossil resources.

The global brewery industry generates around 46 million metric tonnes of by-products annually. The brewing process produces solid wastes such as spent grains, hops, and yeasts. Wastewater is generated from the production and cleaning of fermentation and storage tanks as well as vats and bottle rinsing. The majority of the solid wastes are either disposed of in the environment or used as low-cost animal feed. Brewery wastes are, in fact, viable and sustainable commodities. They contain residual compounds and materials that can produce valuable chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biopolymers, or act as platform chemicals to be further processed into higher-value products. Brewery wastes and wastewater can also function as feedstock for energy production. This chapter provides an overview of the brewing process to highlight the significant waste streams of the industry. The chemical properties of the wastes are detailed to illustrate their intrinsic values. State-of-the-art biotechnological advances to valorise brewery waste are discussed, and a circular bioeconomy conceptual model is proposed. It is hoped that the knowledge presented in this chapter will help maximise the socio-economic potential of brewery wastes and the sustainability of the brewery industry to reduce their impact on the environment and burden on the ecosystem.

This chapter intends to explore the concept of sustainability in the blockchain ecosystem, providing an overview of what already exists in the literature, as this new technology is rapidly gaining interest in different sectors and nowadays the global economy is moving towards sustainable development of financial markets and businesses. Considering the dominant uses of this technology for the green economy narrative, the purpose of this chapter is to expand knowledge on the topic of blockchain that could also allow effective ecological regeneration, facilitating degrowth objectives (Balaguer Rasillo, 2020) and socially equitable outcomes, through institutional reforms that disrupt debt-based economic systems, inspired by alternative currencies. In fact, after the COVID-19 lockdowns, there is a real need for a green, inclusive economy to build a stronger financial system, and blockchain could enable sustainable investments, mainly through collectively owned energy systems for a reduction in total energy use.

One of the main challenges with food waste minimisation relates to measurement and traceability across the food system. Complete, comprehensive, and transparent data are required to track progress on reduction targets, explore environmental impacts, and suggest mitigation strategies. The present chapter focuses on the use of material flow analysis and its utility in end-to-end traceability powered by blockchain technology, which stores digitised records in a decentralised and immutable manner and promotes trust and transparency across the entire food chain. The authors develop a food loss and waste measurement framework based on a mixed approach. On the one hand, material flow analysis emerges as an essential tool to quantify and qualify food loss and waste streams in the food system; on the other side, blockchain technology enables the optimisation of partnership networks and implementation of circular economy paradigms, thereby reducing food loss and waste.

The goal of this paper was to suggest the best structure of a management system standard that is capable of creating the conditions for the growth of a circular economy (CE) (on the basis of popular ISO management systems) and that can be used by SME food industry organisations. That standard can also constitute the framework for independent evaluation and certification. In this work, desk research was carried out based on scientific databases. This scholarly approach was complemented by another, using Internet search engines to find additional documents of a professional nature. The state-of-the-art in this field is presented, characterised by the differences in approach to CE in the literature. This work suggests the assumptions of a management system standard (MSS) structure that is capable of creating the conditions for the growth of a circular economy and that can be used by SME food industry organisations. The described system applies only to food producers, which is a significant limitation of the study. Important elements supporting a developed system are actions addressed to other organisations in the loop, such as primary food producers, packaging producers, recovery organisations or retail chains. Moreover, onsite analyses among all the interested parties are necessary so as to refine the standard. The paper presents a set of relevant theoretical considerations that support CE in SME. It can be used by managers of the food industry who have the will to embrace in practice circular economy principles. Moreover, it can be used to develop a CE MSS.