Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom
Wastes, like other materials, have become increasingly global in their flows. The circular economy (CE) is a multi-level sustainability transition linked to the global trade in waste. China has long been a key trading partner for the West’s waste materials. However, its rethinking of the quality of...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2019
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59097/ |
| _version_ | 1848799586765766656 |
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| author | Flynn, Andrew Hacking, Nick Xie, Linjun |
| author_facet | Flynn, Andrew Hacking, Nick Xie, Linjun |
| author_sort | Flynn, Andrew |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Wastes, like other materials, have become increasingly global in their flows. The circular economy (CE) is a multi-level sustainability transition linked to the global trade in waste. China has long been a key trading partner for the West’s waste materials. However, its rethinking of the quality of traded recyclable materials has triggered a crisis in the global governance of waste flows. We utilise a Sociology of Knowledge approach to undertake comparative work to better understand how different governance arrangements may facilitate or constrain the unfolding of a CE transition. The UK and China were selected as models of liberal and authoritarian environmental governance respectively. A mixed-method approach was pursued using qualitative interviews with key stakeholders and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from secondary sources. Thematic analysis is organised around: perceptions of the circular economy, meanings of standards, and perspectives on trade and materials. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:38:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-59097 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:38:02Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-590972021-08-30T04:30:12Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59097/ Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom Flynn, Andrew Hacking, Nick Xie, Linjun Wastes, like other materials, have become increasingly global in their flows. The circular economy (CE) is a multi-level sustainability transition linked to the global trade in waste. China has long been a key trading partner for the West’s waste materials. However, its rethinking of the quality of traded recyclable materials has triggered a crisis in the global governance of waste flows. We utilise a Sociology of Knowledge approach to undertake comparative work to better understand how different governance arrangements may facilitate or constrain the unfolding of a CE transition. The UK and China were selected as models of liberal and authoritarian environmental governance respectively. A mixed-method approach was pursued using qualitative interviews with key stakeholders and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from secondary sources. Thematic analysis is organised around: perceptions of the circular economy, meanings of standards, and perspectives on trade and materials. Elsevier 2019-08-30 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59097/1/governance-%E5%B7%B2%E8%9E%8D%E5%90%88.pdf Flynn, Andrew, Hacking, Nick and Xie, Linjun (2019) Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions . ISSN 2210-4224 Governance; Circular economy; Sustainability transition; China; UK; Standards https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422418303071?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.eist.2019.08.002 doi:10.1016/j.eist.2019.08.002 |
| spellingShingle | Governance; Circular economy; Sustainability transition; China; UK; Standards Flynn, Andrew Hacking, Nick Xie, Linjun Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom |
| title | Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom |
| title_full | Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom |
| title_fullStr | Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom |
| title_full_unstemmed | Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom |
| title_short | Governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom |
| title_sort | governance of the circular economy: a comparative examination of the use of standards by china and the united kingdom |
| topic | Governance; Circular economy; Sustainability transition; China; UK; Standards |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59097/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59097/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59097/ |