Lifset, Reid
Dear colleagues involved in research on sharing and collaborative economies,
The Journal of Industrial Ecology is pleased to announce a special issue, Exploring the Circular Economy.
Interest in the circular economy has grown remarkably in recent years. Viewed as a concept by some, a framework by others, the circular economy is an alternative to a traditional take-make-dispose linear economy. A circular economy aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times. The value is maintained or extracted though the extension of product lifetimes by reuse, refurbishment, and remanufacturing as well as the closing of resource cycles—through recycling and related strategies.
As the concept of the circular economy has gained traction in business, governments and NGOs, there is a need to grapple with the inevitable complexity and trade-offs involved in an emerging framework.
This special examines environmental, resource, engineering, managerial, design, and policy dimensions of the circular economy. Go to http://bit.ly/JIE-Circ for articles on:
· Circular economy strategies and hazardous materials
· The introduction of the concept among the S&P 500
· The possibility of running the economy on recycled materials
· Current levels of circularity in the economy and recycling systems
· Circular product design
· Performance indicators for circularity
· Rebound effects of circularity
· Industrial symbiosis in the circular economy
· Circularity in the built environment
· Circular strategies for lithium-ion batteries, tantalum (coltan) and beverage packaging
· Social dimensions of a circular economy
Partial support for this special issue was provided by the global consultancy, Deloitte, and the women’s clothing company, Eileen Fisher. The Journal of Industrial Ecology is owned by Yale University, headquartered at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and published by Wiley.
Reid Lifset
Research Scientist, Resident Fellow in Industrial Ecology
Editor-in-chief, Journal of Industrial Ecology
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Yale University
195 Prospect St
New Haven, CT 06511
+1-203-432-6949 (tel)