Mapping Circular Bioeconomy Research in Agrifood Systems: Perspectives From Australia and New Zealand

Growing awareness of unsustainable linear production, consumption and waste economic models is prompting exploration of circular economy and bioeconomy models. The ‘circular bioeconomy’, sitting at the nexus of these concepts, is of particular importance to agrifood systems, which play a critical role in producing biologically based materials and services, and converting waste streams into safe and sustainable resources. A systematic mapping protocol was applied to develop a broad overview of ‘circular bioeconomy’ research in Australian and New Zealand agrifood systems. Sixty‐nine full‐text publications were coded to catalogue studies by domain, methodology, and categories of inputs, technologies and products (for biophysical studies). The circular bioeconomy is an emerging research area, currently experiencing inconsistent definitions of key terms, a high proportion of review papers, and limited engagement with key concepts in certain research areas. There were key differences between Australian and New Zealand research, particularly in terms of science domain, research methodology and dominant perspectives on key circular economy and bioeconomy principles. Recommendations for future studies include standardising circular bioeconomy definitions, increasing social science applications, mapping potential circular bioeconomy assessment tools, and applying circular bioeconomy principles and guidelines to develop cross‐sectoral strategies. Coordinated research efforts can support circular bioeconomy approaches for sustainable agrifood systems in Australia and New Zealand.