Share:


Circular economy model for recycling waste resources under government participation: a case study in industrial waste water circulation in China

    Kai-wen Shen Affiliation
    ; Lin Li Affiliation
    ; Jian-Qiang Wang Affiliation

Abstract

A circular economy (CE) is proposed to mitigate resource shortage and environmental pollution. Given the inevitable conflict between the new development mode and traditional economic benefits, practical experience shows that CE implementation needs the support of outside forces, such as government policy interventions or environmental organisations’ propaganda guidance. On the basis of existing studies, the present work establishes a systematic economic model in accordance with the characteristics, objectives and principles of CE. The equilibrium solution and critical condition of government and non-government participation models are obtained through game analysis. We select the industrial waste water circulation of some provinces in China to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model. Overall, our results indicate that the gap between the critical price and unit processing cost determines the promotion of CE and government intervention. Moreover, government intervention is critical to building a waste management department in its early stage.


First published online 27 November 2019

Keyword : circular economy, economic model, game analysis, equilibrium analysis

How to Cite
Shen, K.- wen, Li, L., & Wang, J.-Q. (2020). Circular economy model for recycling waste resources under government participation: a case study in industrial waste water circulation in China. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 26(1), 21-47. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2019.11249
Published in Issue
Jan 2, 2020
Abstract Views
4513
PDF Downloads
2315
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Andersen, M. S. (2007). An introductory note on the environmental economics of the circular economy. Sustainability Science, 2(1), 133-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-006-0013-6

Birat, J. P. (2015). Life-cycle assessment, resource efficiency and recycling. Metallurgical Research & Technology, 112(2), 2271-3646. https://doi.org/10.1051/metal/2015009

Bocken, N. M. P., de Pauw, I., Bakker, C., & van der Grinten, B. (2016). Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, 33(5), 308-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681015.2016.1172124

Boulding, K. E. (1966). The economics of the coming spaceship earth. Environmental Quality Issues in a Growing Economy.

Castellani, V., Sala, S., & Mirabella, N. (2015). Beyond the throwaway society: A life cycle-based assessment of the environmental benefit of reuse. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 11(3), 373-382. https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1614

da Silva, C. L. (2018). Proposal of a dynamic model to evaluate public policies for the circular economy: Scenarios applied to the municipality of Curitiba. Waste Management, 78, 456-466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.06.007

Dong, L., Fujita, T., Dai, M., Geng, Y., Ren, J., Fujii, M., Wang, Y., & Ohnishi, S. (2016). Towards preventative eco-industrial development: An industrial and urban symbiosis case in one typical industrial city in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 114, 387-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.015

Fang, Y., & Zeng, Y. (2007). Balancing energy and environment: The effect and perspective of management instruments in China. Energy, 32(12), 2247-2261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2007.07.016

Franco, M .A. (2017). Circular economy at the micro level: A dynamic view of incumbents’ struggles and challenges in the textile industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 168, 833-845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.056

Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N. M. P., & Hultink, E. J. (2017). The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm? Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 757-768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048

Geng, Y., Fu, J., Sarkis, J., & Xue, B. (2012). Towards a national circular economy indicator system in China: An evaluation and critical analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 23(1), 216-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.07.005

Geng, Y., Wang, M., Sarkis, J., Xue, B., Zhang, L., Fujita, T., Yu, X., Ren, W., Zhang, L., & Dong, H. (2014). Spatial-temporal patterns and driving factors for industrial wastewater emission in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 76, 116-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.047

Geng, Y., Zhang, P., Cote, R. P., & Qi, Y. (2008). Evaluating the applicability of the Chinese eco-industrial park standard in two industrial zones. The International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 15(6), 543-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504500809469850

Genovese, A., Acquaye, A. A., Figueroa, A., & Koh, S. C. L. (2017). Sustainable supply chain management and the transition towards a circular economy: Evidence and some applications. Omega, 66, 344-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2015.05.015

George, D. A. R., Lin, B. C.-a., & Chen, Y. (2015). A circular economy model of economic growth. Environmental Modelling & Software, 73, 60-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.06.014

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, 15(114), 11-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.007

Guo, B., Geng, Y., Ren, J., Zhu, L., Liu, Y., & Sterr, T. (2017a). Comparative assessment of circular economy development in China’s four megacities: The case of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Urumqi. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, 234-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.061

Guo, B., Geng, Y., Sterr, T., Zhu, Q., & Liu, Y. (2017b). Investigating public awareness on circular economy in western China: A case of Urumqi Midong. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142(Part 4), 2177-2186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.11.063

Haas, W., Krausmann, F., Wiedenhofer, D., & Heinz, M. (2015). How circular is the global economy?: An assessment of material flows, waste production, and recycling in the European Union and the world in 2005. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19(5), 765-777. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12244

Haupt, M., Vadenbo, C., & Hellweg, S. (2016). Do we have the right performance indicators for the circular economy?: Insight into the Swiss waste management system. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 615-627. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12506

Hu, J., Xiao, Z., Zhou, R., Deng, W., Wang, M., & Ma, S. (2011). Ecological utilization of leather tannery waste with circular economy model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(2), 221-228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.09.018

Huang, K., Guo, J., & Xu, Z. (2009). Recycling of waste printed circuit boards: A review of current technologies and treatment status in China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 164(2), 399-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.08.051

Huysman, S., De Schaepmeester, J., Ragaert, K., Dewulf, J., & De Meester, S. (2017). Performance indicators for a circular economy: A case study on post-industrial plastic waste. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 120, 46-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.01.013

Mckinsey Global Institute. (2011). Urban world: mapping the economic power of cities.

Kalathil, D., Wu, C., Poolla, K., & Varaiya, P. (2017). The sharing economy for the electricity storage. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 10(1), 556-567. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSG.2017.2748519

Kallis, G. (2011). In defence of degrowth. Ecological Economics, 70(5), 873-880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.12.007

Kurzban, R., & Houser, D. (2001). Individual differences in cooperation in a circular public goods game. European Journal of Personality, 15(S1), S37-S52. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.420

Leslie, H. A., Leonards, P. E. G., Brandsma, S. H., Boer, J. D., & Jonkers, N. (2016). Propelling plastics into the circular economy – weeding out the toxics first. Environment International, 94, 230-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.05.012

Lim, C. Y., Wang, J., & Zeng, C. (2018). China’s “Mercantilist” government subsidies, the cost of debt and firm performance. Journal of Banking & Finance, 86, 37-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2017.09.004

Liu, L., Liang, Y., Song, Q., & Li, J. (2017). A review of waste prevention through 3R under the concept of circular economy in China. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 19(4), 1314-1323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-017-0606-4

Liu, Z., Adams, M., Cote, R. P., Chen, Q., Wu, R., Wen, Z., Liu, W., & Dong, L. (2018). How does circular economy respond to greenhouse gas emissions reduction: An analysis of Chinese plastic recycling industries. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 91, 1162-1169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.038

Marra, A., Mazzocchitti, M., & Sarra, A. (2018). Knowledge sharing and scientific cooperation in the design of research-based policies: The case of the circular economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 194, 800-812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.164

McDowall, W., Geng, Y., Huang, B., Barteková, E., Bleischwitz, R., Türkeli, S., Kemp, R., & Doménech, T. (2017). Circular economy policies in China and Europe. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 651-661. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12597

Namany, S., Al-Ansari, T., & Govindan, R. (2018). Integrated techno-economic optimization for the design and operations of energy, water and food nexus systems constrained as non-cooperative games. In M. R. Eden, M. G. Ierapetritou, & G. P. Towler, Computer aided chemical engineering (Vol. 44, pp. 1003-1008). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64241-7.50162-2

Nizami, A. S., Rehan, M., Waqas, M., Naqvi, M., Ouda, O. K. M., Shahzad, K., Miandad, R., Khan, M. Z., Syamsiro, M., Ismail, I. M. I., & Pant, D. (2017). Waste biorefineries: Enabling circular economies in developing countries. Bioresource Technology, 241, 1101-1117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.097

Pan, S. Y., Du, M. A., Huang, I. T., Liu, I. H., Chang, E. E., & Chiang, P.-C. (2015). Strategies on implementation of waste-to-energy (WTE) supply chain for circular economy system: a review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 108, 409-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.06.124

Pigou, A. C. (2014). The economics of welfare. Macmillan and Co, limited.

Pitt, J., & Heinemeyer, C. (2015). Introducing ideas of a circular economy. Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-938-8_16

Pomponi, F., & Moncaster, A. (2017). Circular economy for the built environment: A research framework. Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 710-718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.055

Preston, F. (2012). A global redesign? Shaping the circular economy. Retrieved from https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/182376

Ross, D. G. (2018). Using cooperative game theory to contribute to strategy research. Strategic Management Journal, 39(11), 2859-2876. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2936

Schneider, F., Kallis, G., & Martinez-Alier, J. (2010). Crisis or opportunity? Economic degrowth for social equity and ecological sustainability. Introduction to this special issue. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(6), 511-518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.01.014

Shen, K., & Wang, J. (2018). Z-VIKOR method based on a new comprehensive weighted distance measure of Z-number and its application. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, 26(6), 3232-3245. https://doi.org/10.1109/TFUZZ.2018.2816581

Shubik, M. (1981). Game theory models and methods in political economy. Handbook of Mathematical Economics, 1, 285-330. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-4382(81)01011-4

Sousa-Zomer, T. T., Magalhães, L., Zancul, E., Campos, L .M., & Cauchick-Miguel, P. A. (2018). Cleaner production as an antecedent for circular economy paradigm shift at the micro-level: Evidence from a home appliance manufacturer. Journal of Cleaner Production, 185, 740-748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.006

Su, B., Heshmati, A., Geng, Y., & Yu, X. (2013). A review of the circular economy in China: moving from rhetoric to implementation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 42, 215-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.020

Sun, J., Li, G., & Wang, Z. (2019). Technology heterogeneity and efficiency of China’s circular economic systems: A game meta-frontier DEA approach. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 146, 337-347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.03.046

Tan, C., Liu, Z., Wu, D. D., & Chen, X. (2018). Cournot game with incomplete information based on rank-dependent utility theory under a fuzzy environment. International Journal of Production Research, 56(5), 1789-1805. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1131865

Tan, X., Shi, L., Chen, Z., Li, T., Ma, Z., Zheng, X., & Cheng, R. (2015). Cost analysis of the municipal wastewater treatment plant operation based on 227 samples in China. Water & Wastewater Engineering.

Tukker, A. (2015). Product services for a resource-efficient and circular economy – a review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 97, 76-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.049

van der Ploeg, F., & de Zeeuw, A. (2016). Non-cooperative and cooperative responses to climate catastrophes in the global economy: A North–South perspective. Environmental and Resource Economics, 65(3), 519-540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-016-0037-z

Wübbeke, J., & Heroth, T. (2014). Challenges and political solutions for steel recycling in China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 87, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2014.03.004

Wei-guang, Z. J. G. L., & Yue, Z. (2011). Current situation and development prospects of scrap processing equipment in China [J]. Iron & Steel Scrap of China, 4.

Wen, Z., & Meng, X. (2015). Quantitative assessment of industrial symbiosis for the promotion of circular economy: a case study of the printed circuit boards industry in China’s Suzhou New District. Journal of Cleaner Production, 90, 211-219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.03.041

Wenxia, L. I. U., Yundi, L., & Tianyang, Z. (2015). Cooperative game based capacity planning model for wind power in low-carbon economy. AEPS, 39(19), 68-74.

Whicher, A., Harris, C., Beverley, K., & Swiatek, P. (2018). Design for circular economy: Developing an action plan for Scotland. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 3237-3248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.009

Winans, K., Kendall, A., & Deng, H. (2017). The history and current applications of the circular economy concept. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 68, 825-833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.123

Witjes, S., & Lozano, R. (2016). Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models. Resources Conservation & Recycling, 112, 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.04.015

Wong, J. K. W., & Zhou, J. (2015). Enhancing environmental sustainability over building life cycles through green BIM: A review. Automation in Construction, 57, 156-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2015.06.003

Wu, H. Q., Shi, Y., Xia, Q., & Zhu, W. D. (2014). Effectiveness of the policy of circular economy in China: A DEA-based analysis for the period of 11th five-year-plan. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 83, 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.10.003

Yong, R. (2007). The circular economy in China. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 9(2), 121-129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-007-0183-z

Yuan, Z., Bi, J., & Moriguichi, Y. (2010). The Circular Economy: A new development strategy in China. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 10(1-2), 4-8. https://doi.org/10.1162/108819806775545321

Zhang, C. T., & Liu, L. P. (2013). Research on coordination mechanism in three-level green supply chain under non-cooperative game. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 37(5), 3369-3379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2012.08.006

Zhao, Y., Yang, W., Song, W., Huang, S., Nie, X., Tuo, J., Piao, Z., & Yan, H. (2018). A capacity planning method for wind power based on cooperative game theory in carbon trading process. In 2018 2nd IEEE Conference on Energy Internet and Energy System Integration (EI2) (pp. 1-6). https://doi.org/10.1109/EI2.2018.8582327