Fig. Global Aluminium Cycle

      During the process of global economic development, problems such as inefficient use of resources, serious pollution of waste, uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gas, and excessive wastewater are emerging. Global demand for resource is projected to be doubled by 2050. Unreasonable resource exploitation and utilization is restricting economic development. Thus, sustainable resource management has become one inevitable choice for industrial development. Circular economy has been practiced in many countries and regions, such as China, US, EU, Japan and Korea. Nevertheless, circular-economy projects and relevant policies in different countries were developed based on their own situations without global consideration. The transnational circular-economy cooperation mechanism has not been established, resulting in a low level of circular economy development, for example the global recycling rate of industrial materials is only 6%. The rapid development of global economic integration and international trade requires that circular economy should break through geographical boundaries with close global cooperation. Therefore, to advance the globalization of circular economy, governments need to carry out international cooperation urgently through a systematic revolution of global industry system.Prof. Geng Yong from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof. Joseph Sarkis from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Prof. Raimund Bleischwitz from University College London proposed policy recommendations on globalizing the circular economy based on the preliminary work. Their article “Globalize the circular economy” was published in the top journal Nature on 10^th, Jan, 2019, which is the frontier study focusing on circular economy globalization by Chinese scholars. See the full paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00017-z.

     This study points out that with the increasing use of sustainable materials, new markets and innovative business models, most circular-economy initiatives at the national level have helped reduce the materials, waste, energy and emissions. For example, some industries, such as the aluminum sector, are starting to monitor material flows globally to improve resource efficiency. Nonetheless, many fragmented circular-economy initiatives and networks still exist and are inefficient. Accurate, traceable and reliable data on the flows and stocks of most materials, and on the costs and efficiencies of industrial process, are lacking. Unfortunately, no international policy efforts integrate circular-economy approaches, leading to less benefits. Thus, it is urgent to implement innovative circular economy initiatives and prepare more appropriate policies.

      In order to address these concerns, this study raised several strategies to globalize the circular economy, such as: (1) A global database should be set up to capture links between resource uses, including indicators on material, water and energy flows. (2) A global platform should be established for sharing knowledge on the circular economy. (3) International alliances should be created to promote large-scale experimentation. (4) Standards for performance measurement, reporting, accounting and future products need to be developed and implemented. (5) Policymakers should work together to prepare more appropriate regulations and enhance effective enforcement, resolve potential disputes at a global scale. The findings of this study provide valuable insights to promote the circular economy globalization and formulate international principles of sustainable resource management.

      This study was financially supported by the Department of Management Science at National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 71690241, 71810107001, 7325006).