Conference Agenda

Circular economy practices, employed by firms and aimed at reducing, reusing and recycling resources, have the potential to improve resource efficiency. How- ever, despite their clear objectives, these micro-level interventions may not neces- sarily result in economy-wide reductions in resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents a novel analytical framework for examining the pathways through which firm-level circularity leads to macro-level reductions in re- source use, extraction, and disposal—conceptualized as a macro circular economy— and ultimately, climate mitigation. Drawing upon diverse strands of economic lit- erature and employing sequential reasoning, we identify the necessary conditions under which circular practices at the firm level generate tangible benefits at the ag- gregate level. Our findings reveal that these identified conditions correspond closely with principles of sufficiency. Subsequently, we examine policy instruments that can facilitate the achievement of a macro-circular economy.