Re-envisioning circular economy policy in line with a service perspective
(2019) EU Raw Materials Week - Sustainability from a Service Perspective Workshop — Location: Brussels, European Commission (22.November.2019)
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- Authors
Whiting, Kai 
Carmona, Luis Gabriel
- Abstract
- It is estimated that about 140-218 Gt/year of resources will be needed by 2050, for the provision of shelter, mobility, water supplies and various other services upon which humans depend. Collectively, such services are referred to as “energy and material services” and are defined as “those characteristics or functions that energy and materials contribute to personal or societal activity with the purpose of obtaining or facilitating desired end goals or states”. This level of resource use in terms of both consumption and accumulation along with its link to wellbeing, provides the rationale behind the need to urgently reassess our relationship with Earth and each other. It also calls into question our intrinsic values, economic policies and environmental practices linked to natural resource use,especially when many mineral ores are finite,where renewable materials are difficult to replace or when the rate of extraction/processing is faster than the rate of renewal. One way to reframe resource use away from a production-focused performance is to consider resource provision from an energy and material service perspective.
- Affiliations
Citations
Perrotti, D., Whiting, K., & Carmona, L. G. (2019). Re-envisioning circular economy policy in line with a service perspective. EU Raw Materials Week - Sustainability from a Service Perspective Workshop, Brussels, European Commission. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/228243