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Towards a Just Circular Economy Transition: the Case of European Plastic Waste Trade to Vietnam for Recycling

Thapa, Kaustubh; Vermeulen, Walter J.V.; De Waal, Mo Ming; Deutz, Pauline; Nguyễn, Hồng Quân

Authors

Kaustubh Thapa

Walter J.V. Vermeulen

Mo Ming De Waal

Pauline Deutz

Hồng Quân Nguyễn



Abstract

Exporting waste for recycling to destinations without sound recycling capacity raises questions of fairness and sustainability. Due to insufficient recycling infrastructure in Europe to manage the growing generation of plastic waste, there has been an increase in waste trade for recycling in a complex global value chain, with the stated goal of achieving sound resource recovery. However, such trade poses increasing governance and sustainability challenges. The EU has implemented policies and systems for plastic waste management, including separate collection to prevent potential harm and promote resource reuse. Nevertheless, waste handling is often outsourced without transparency to countries with cheaper operating and labour costs, which can cause harm to individuals, societies, and the environment. Fifty per cent of the collected European plastic waste for recycling is shipped for recycling outside the EU without accountability. This Vietnamese case study of the EU plastic waste exports for recycling aims to increase our understanding of waste governance and its circularity, sustainability and justice implications. We adopt a multidisciplinary perspective to understand the challenges of the EU’s plastic waste export practices for the broader socio-ecological system. We propose a multidisciplinary framework as an ecocentric ethical guide for just and circular future waste shipment practices with strong consideration for the social and ecological dimensions. We hope that this research and its outcomes can provide insights for forthcoming policies, such as the United Nations treaty on plastic waste pollution.

Citation

Thapa, K., Vermeulen, W. J., De Waal, M. M., Deutz, P., & Nguyễn, H. Q. (2024). Towards a Just Circular Economy Transition: the Case of European Plastic Waste Trade to Vietnam for Recycling. Circular Economy and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-023-00330-w

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 20, 2023
Online Publication Date Jan 18, 2024
Publication Date Jan 1, 2024
Deposit Date Jan 27, 2024
Publicly Available Date Jan 29, 2024
Journal Circular Economy and Sustainability
Print ISSN 2730-597X
Electronic ISSN 2730-5988
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-023-00330-w
Keywords Plastic waste trade for recycling; Circular economy; Recycling; Plastic waste value chain; Just transition
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4526573

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.




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