2022-09-07

Together with colleagues from the Department of Economic History at Lund University, IMES researcher Fredric Bauer has published a new review paper on how emerging technologies can support the transition to a circular economy for plastics. Promoted by policymakers, academia, and corporations alike, the circular economy model presents a viable path to reach more sustainable levels of development. Emerging and disruptive technologies can catalyse the transition to a circular economy, but their application to the transition of the plastic materials realm is not fully understood. Based on a systematic review of the literature, this paper aims to understand the role of key emerging technologies in the transition towards a circular economy in the plastic materials value chain, their potential impact, as well as the barriers of adoption and diffusion.

The paper is published in the new journal Circular Economy and Sustainability and is available for free download here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43615-022-00209-2