CE Global

As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission has developed an extremely ambitious circular economy action plan, which is intended to contribute both to climate neutrality and explicitly to the competitiveness of European industry. In addition, the German government has committed to developing a National Circular Economy Strategy in the coalition agreement. 

However, the different global effects that arise in countries outside the European Union remain largely unreflected – while at the same time, there are increasing indications based on various reference projects of the Wuppertal Institute that a much more differentiated approach will be necessary in the future. 

Against this background, the following key research questions arise:

• What can a circular economy look like that benefits more than just the Global North?
• What implications will a European or German circular economy have for countries of the Global South? And what can inclusive transformation processes look like?
• Which social consequences – and in particular which human rights opportunities and risks – are associated with the transformation to a circular economy? 

The project team is approaching these questions in three work packages:

• In a first step, researchers at the Wuppertal Institute systematically screen the scientific literature, including database searches at Web of Science and Scopus. 
• In the second step, the possible external effects of an increased circular economy in Germany through increased vertical integration and reduced waste exports will be examined using two case studies: firstly, the export of textile waste to Ghana, and secondly, the export of plastic waste to Vietnam. 
• The working hypotheses developed in the first two steps will be presented for discussion in the next work package during a half-day workshop at the Wuppertal Institute, discussing potential future projects.