Spatial clustering of waste reuse in a circular economy: A spatial autocorrelation analysis on locations of waste reuse in the Netherlands using global and local Moran’s I (original) (raw)
Related papers
2022
As appointed in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, cities and regions in EU member countries start accompanying their circular economy strategies by monitoring frameworks, often called Circular Economy Monitors (CEM). Having the task to assess the performance towards the achievement of set targets and to steer decision-making, CEMs need to rely on a multitude of statistics and datasets. Waste statistics play an important role in circular economy monitoring as they provide insights into the remaining linear part of the economy. The collection of waste statistics is mandated by the European Commission which provides general guidelines on data collection and processing. The Netherlands has one of the most detailed waste registries among the EU countries. The country’s largest metropolitan region, Amsterdam, is currently building a CEM which tracks progress over time towards the set goals, highlights which areas need improvement and estimates target feasibility. This paper uses the Am...
The economy that runs on waste: accumulation in the circular city
2020
Conventional wisdom holds that the circular economy will provide a sustainable pathway to economic growth. Advocates of circularity insist that maintaining economic growth, while simultaneously reducing both inputs of materials and outputs of waste, entails closing material streams in cities. This article examines the roots and legacy of these prescriptions in environmental policymaking. It argues that the circular economy represents a regime of eco-accumulation in which waste is main resource of production and consumption. Focusing on the legacy of circular economy policies in the Netherlands and Amsterdam, the article provides an account of the building of a nationwide green-growth urban agenda underpinned by the valorization of waste. It dissects three social, economic, and institutional processes and factors through which circularity takes shape: (a) the reconfiguration of the multi-level structure through which waste processing has been governed; (b) the promotion of a city-regional economy of micro-logistics and industrial manufacturing for waste materials; and (c) the centrality of households in producing and consuming waste in the urban environment. The article concludes by questioning the limits of an economy dependent on waste.
Spatial analysis of the recyclable municipal solid waste
Proceedings of the 7th International ORBIT 2010, 2010
This study examines the spatial variation in the amounts of dry Recyclable MSW (RMSW) collected at the local authority level of geography in Greece. The full dataset of the HERRCO for the year 2009 was explored and the data for those local authorities that participated in the recycling program for the full calendar year were used. In order to investigate its spatial structure and to examine the existence of spatial autocorrelation Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) methodology was applied to the above dataset. The overall and local Moran’s I was calculated for the per capita collected dry recyclable materials in the MSW. The results show that the amounts of dry recyclable materials in municipal solid waste exhibit a relatively strong spatial autocorrelation. The results and conclusions of this analysis could help in informed decision making in relation to the operational and strategic planning of the MSW management by the HERRCO and by the national and local government.
Cities play a central role in the circular economy (CE) as they are important centres of production and consumption, responsible for 80% of global GDP. European cities are particularly important due to their position of power in the global economy as major markets, and places of industrial and social innovation. Yet urban CE policies and discourses remain poorly researched and understood. This paper addresses this research gap by analysing and comparing the CE policies and discourses in different European cities to draw critical insights and recommendations. It does so by first reviewing academic literature on urban CE policies to develop a new conceptual framework to analyse CE discourses and policies. This framework is then used to analyse and compare the CE policies of three European cities: Glasgow, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. Results show that technocentric approaches to CE are dominant in the three cities. Moreover, they have very limited social justice policies for a fair distribution of the costs and benefits of a CE transition. Key policy recommendations to address these shortcomings are thus proposed. The insights brought about by this paper are valuable for both practitioners and academics seeking to improve urban CE policies.
Is the Netherlands sustainable as a global-scale inner-city? Intenscoping spatial sustainability
Ecological Economics, 2014
Is the Netherlands sustainable or not? The answer inherently involves addressing the issues of system boundaries, statistical units and a vision of sustainability. As an analytical answer we offer the Intenscope (IS), a two-dimensional graphical tool based on dimensionless percentages of triple rate ratios which overcomes several limitations of sustainability analyses. First, it is not sensitive to the size of statistical units so an area with twice the amount of resources of another, with double the population (and double the total consumption) would have the same triple ratio of population:biocapacity:consumption. Second, the IS is sensitive to anomalies which may originate either from the use of arbitrary statistical units (e.g. the boundaries of a city) or those which may indicate truly unsustainable practices. To judge spatial sustainability we use ecological footprint data from which we construct a plausible country plot based on the IS. Despite the relative nature of IS-analyses, the employed consumption:biocapacity ratio inherently refers to the absolute limit of sustainability: we cannot continually use more resources on a global scale than nature provides us with. The analysis introduces some associations of human preferences and attributions of settlement types which may help to elaborate sustainability policies based on voluntary action. 2 "It simply does not seem fair to compare large-in terms of economic activity or land areaand small countries. And similarly, the comparison of sparsely populated, large countries, such as Australia, Canada and the USA, with densely populated, small countries in Europe, is a bit like comparing cities with continents." (van den Bergh and Verbruggen, 1999, p. 67
Circular City: A Methodological Approach for Sustainable Districts and Communities
Eco-Architecture VII: Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature, 2018
The increasing complexity of urban growth strongly impacts both on the quality of urban environment and on the effectiveness of models for development, requiring innovative approaches to face the related challenges. The proposed position paper reports the methodological approach outlined within a trans-European research project. It aims at defining a systemic urban vision based on resource loops vision in a clustered perspective, overcoming the conventional separation between urban and periurban areas. The main scope is to drive a transition from a linear ("take-make-use-dispose") to a circular approach, considering the whole city realm and aiming to close resource loops (in line with EU COM 614/2015, Closing the loop, EU COM 33/2017, Implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan and Urban Agenda Draft Action Plan on Circular Economy 09.02.2018) while generating new market opportunities and jobs, reducing resources import, decreasing impacts on environment and climate change. The methodology includes the following steps: increasing context understanding, identifying resource flows, using economic potential of existing resources, engaging communities in loops of proximity, facilitating entrepreneur and stakeholders in co-creation of circular economy processes. This paper explains the positioning of the research within the state of the art; it describes the applied methodology and related expected outcomes, defines the main related initiatives and implementation models. This study identifies regenerative corridors (RC) as potential effective drivers to overcome the conventional separation between urban, peri-urban and rural areas in the EU context, investigating their relations and identifying driving factors for a circular equalized development among these different urban zones. This paper also reports on the impact indicators and the replication potential of the proposed systemic approach.
STATISTICAL DIMENSIONS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Revista De Gestão Social E Ambiental, 18(8), e05906., 2024
The aim of the research is to study the various aspects of the circular economy in Bulgaria and the countries of the European Union. Method: The article evaluates the circular economy by applying different statistical analysis approaches: multivariate statistical methods, convergence analysis and cross-correlation analysis. Results and conclusion: First, as a result of the conducted dynamic classification of EU countries, it was found that the transition to a circular economy is most advanced in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Luxembourg. Second, according to each of the indicators included in the analysis, the absence of a process of general convergence and the presence of club convergence between the EU-27 countries during the period 2012-2019 was established. Convergence among countries in four of the clubs formed is relative, while in the others there is a process of transitional divergence and phase reversal. Third, based on the cross-correlation analysis, we find no relationship between generated and recycled packaging waste in Bulgaria from 2005 to 2019. Between these indicators in the European Union for the same period, there is reason to argue that there is a relationship that occurs within the current year. Fourth, the values of the indicators of waste utilization and rendering waste harmless clearly show that in Bulgaria the waste from economic activities is mainly landfilled, and this is associated with additional costs and leads to environmental pollution. Fifth, the taxonomic analysis shows the existence of minimal differences between the Bulgarian districts in terms of municipal solid waste management.
From Wastescapes Towards Regenerative Territories. A Structural Approach for Achieving Circularity
Regenerative Territories, 2022
In this chapter, the understanding of circularity goes beyond material resource management, deepening the spatial implications of a more circular management and use of wastescapes, investigated at the urban and metropolitan scale.Besides the health (care) related challenges presented by the current outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, additional ones related to our living environment have been—and will continue to be—an urgent call for academic researchers, designers and policymakers to find (eco)innovative solutions and strategies for enhancing the quality of life of all and the availability of more and more safe public (open) spaces and facilities to sustain this. In this situation, the spaces most at risk of urban and peri-urban areas could be found in the unresolved places which are defined as wastescapes, since they are in general still poorly used and valued. Building on the European H2020 research project REPAiR, the definition of wastescapes, provided in this study, builds upo...
Urban Metabolism and Circular Economy Interrelations. Analysing Three Examples of Eu-Funded Projects
2020
In Europe, the concepts of urban metabolism (UM) and circular economy (CE) have been made operational in several research projects and practical applications. However, although in the last years policy interests and scientific literature about UM and CE have been growing significantly, these concepts remain open, and their applicability is not univocal, especially concerning CE applied in urban systems. This paper analyses how three EU funded projects developed the interrelations amongst the fields of UM and CE. Different dimensions and scales of circularity were investigated, namely: (i) the potentials to create networking among different sectors to recycle waste at the regional scale; (ii) the importance of regenerating wastescapes; (iii) the accounting of resource flows that compose UM; (iv) the direct involvement of stakeholders in the management of resources. Keywords: circular economy, urban metabolism, regenerative city
Eliciting Information for Developing a Circular Economy in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area
Regenerative Territories
Advancing circularity in metropolitan areas involves planning, co-designing and implementing spatially explicit interventions with a multitude of stakeholders who are required to work with waste and resource management information. For the stakeholders, understanding information on these flows of resources and materials, and the spatial implications of these flows across the territory, is crucial when proposing new interventions and assessing the effects of these interventions. Spatial decision support systems constitute potential tools for supporting groups of stakeholders involved in the collaborative process of shaping the future of urban areas while achieving sustainability and increased circularity. This chapter focuses on the digital representation and portrayal, and the use of different types of information in a digital spatial decision support tool aimed at helping decision-makers through stages of the collaborative process that starts at problem identification and status qu...