Unlocking the Linear Lock-In: Mapping Research on Barriers to Transition

The linear paradigm of take-make-dispose in production and consumption patterns impedes the achievement of global sustainability goals. Strategies for maintaining the added value of resources and circulating them have been discussed as promising for the future. There are, however, many barriers to be addressed to overcome the linear lock-in. The large body of literature on these barriers is notably diverse in terms of theory, methods, sectors, products, and settings. This demonstrates the complexity of delineating implications to the practice and research needs. Without a common framework to analyse barriers, knowledge does not accumulate, hindering the development and implementation of solutions and policies that could effectively address the barriers. In this article, we developed a systematic map of studies on barriers related to the circular transition. The purpose was twofold: (1) to classify published research on barriers; (2) to provide a searchable database for future more rigorous systematic literature reviews. We reviewed the abstract of 527 publications and classified the study according to a developed scheme. This classification scheme includes the research paradigms (circular economy, sharing economy, collaborative consumption and product-service systems), circular strategy (recycling, remanufacturing, component/product reuse, and access-based consumption), country, sector/industry/product, and research approach and method. The resulting research map is open source, serving also as an adaptive digital database for researchers alike to perform systematic reviews and contribute further to its collaborative development.