Essay Sample on Circular Economy: Europe & China's Urgent Solution to Resource Scarcity

Introduction

Currently, the Circular Economy (CE) is the most suitable strategy being adopted by both Europe and China to tackle emerging and urgent environmental resource scarcity and degradation problems (McDowall et al., 2017). The main principles of the CE strategy are to reduce, to reuse, and to recycle the used materials. Therefore these principles majorly account for a circular system that can ensure recycling of used materials, deriving of energy from some of the renewable and rebuilding of the ecosystem that can support human health and with a healthy society (McDowall et al., 2017). The idea of a circular economy policy-making should, therefore, be prominent to the rest of the states as it is to the European and China. In China, the circular economy mostly aims at improving the efficiency of energy and material use, competitiveness, promoting enterprises, reducing the CO2 emissions, and eradicating green barriers in international trade (Ghisellini et al., 2016). China also uses the CE in evaluating the implementation strategy in various pilot areas. Europe, on the other hand, has developed concepts and mechanisms that ensure universal environmental policies for its regions and members. These policies usually cover all aspects that include production, waste management, consumption, and other eco-friendly systems (Ghisellini et al., 2016).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The current analysis of the environmental policies on all members of Europe and China indicates that the focus and the maturity levels of the circular economy differ across the countries. However, a set of assessing preparations of the sustainable development strategy should be developed in China and Europe as a whole. A coordination of efforts in standardizing and harmonizing the evaluation system for micro and macro levels accounting for country specificity is required; this will thereby facilitate a comparison of environmental performance and resource use (Peiro et al., 2020).

In my opinion, I suggest that both China and Europe can improve their level of understanding and implementation of the circular economy by learning from each other. First, Europe should adopt china's approach to CE that majors on a program of experimental at different scales through the designation of regions, zones, and cities. The blend of encouragement, as well as coordinated administration and facilitation of local experiments, can provide a governance model that could eventually give essential models. These models for the structuring of large-scale sociotechnical or demonstration operations within the European context will help in mainstreaming and up scaling promising innovations (Wijkman, & Skanberg, 2015). Second, I recommend that Europe should embrace the experience of china with indicators, especially those that are specific to different spatial scales; this will provide lessons for Europe in attempting to develop indicators in support of the European Union's CE action plan. Europe should also embrace the china's approach to the CE that incorporates various aspects of land-use planning within an extensive eco-industrial development framework; this will help Europe to integrate the CE principles into land-use planning and in urban design.

On the other hand, China also has lessons to learn and various strategies to adapt from Europe's methods of approach to the circular economy. First, China should learn from the European strategic approach to the eco-design process that provides the incentives to various producers; this helps them make products easier to remanufacture, repair, and recycle, thus promoting business model innovation (Zhu et al., 2019). Second, China should adopt the European strategy in labeling requirements and the emerging European indicator systems such as patents in recycling techniques; this will help China to monitor its CE and specific economic activities efficiently (Saavedra et al., 2018).

Since the vast trade flows mostly between China and Europe, mutual learning can, therefore, facilitate the rapid development of the circular economy within and beyond their regions. Thus, the two areas should overcome resistance to change since only together can they embrace openness and cooperation for mutual benefit, thereby taking the lead in global eco-politics (Saavedra et al., 2018).

References

Ghisellini, P., Cialani, C., & Ulgiati, S. (2016). A review on circular economy: the expected transition to a balanced interplay of environmental and economic systems. Journal of Cleaner production, 114, 11-32. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652615012287

McDowall, W., Geng, Y., Huang, B., Bartekova, E., Bleischwitz, R., Turkeli, S., ... & Domenech, T. (2017). Circular economy policies in China and Europe. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 651-661. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12597

Peiro, L. T., Polverini, D., Ardente, F., & Mathieux, F. (2020). Advances towards circular economy policies in the EU: The new Ecodesign regulation of enterprise servers. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 154, 104426. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344919303210

Saavedra, Y. M., Iritani, D. R., Pavan, A. L., & Ometto, A. R. (2018). Theoretical contribution of industrial ecology to circular economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 170, 1514-1522. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652617321728

Wijkman, A., & Skanberg, K. (2015). The circular economy and benefits for society. Club of Rome. Retrieved from https://www.lagazettedescommunes.com/telechargements/etude-club-rome-eng.pdf

Zhu, J., Fan, C., Shi, H., & Shi, L. (2019). Efforts for a circular economy in China: A comprehensive review of policies. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 23(1), 110-118. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jiec.12754