The Principles and Prospects of the Circular Economy: the case of the Kalundborg Symbiosis

Abstract

All the recent developments that we witnessed in the last years, months, and even in the last days, are the Earth’s way of telling us we have gone too far. We overexploited it. We took advantage of all its resources. And, if we don’t start changing things now, and rapidly, there will be no turning back. The starting point of this dissertation is the acknowledgement that something must take place, not only on a small scale but also on a bigger scale. This dissertation tries to investigate and understand the current applications of the circular economy, whether it is profitable for firms and how it will be treated in the future. We will look at practical examples of industrial clusters and industrial symbiosis and analyse them to appreciate their functioning, including their benefits and their limits.