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The Procurement Agenda for the Transition to a Circular Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Mazen A. Al-Sinan

    (Procurement & Supply Chain Management, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdulaziz A. Bubshait

    (Department of Construction Engineering & Management, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) has emerged as an upcoming promising solution to global sustainability. Some policymakers have issued legislations to encourage the adoption of CE, and academics have published studies addressing CE from different approaches. However, adopting CE entails a disruptive shift from a linear economy to a closed-loop economy, where economic growth is decoupled from consumption growth. Though it is difficult to develop a uniform, structured approach for incorporating CE into procurement, this paper attempts to fill the current knowledge gap by proposing a holistic framework to embed CE into the procurement process. The procurement ecosystem is very complex, and this study accordingly dismantles the ecosystem into basic components. The integration of CE for each component is addressed separately. Propositions have then been developed for each element within the procurement ecosystem to embrace CE. The research findings suggest that governments can play an important role in promulgating laws and regulations that encourage CE within procurement. The buyer should be willing to pay a premium for circular products or services; training is needed to address CE when drafting the agreement and during the technical and proposal evaluation. In regard to the bidders’ prequalification evaluation, a certain weight should be assigned to the adoption of CE. Furthermore, the bid–award system should give preferential treatment to circular materials or services.

Suggested Citation

  • Mazen A. Al-Sinan & Abdulaziz A. Bubshait, 2022. "The Procurement Agenda for the Transition to a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:18:p:11528-:d:914782
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mazen A. Al-Sinan & Abdulaziz A. Bubshait, 2022. "Using Plastic Sand as a Construction Material toward a Circular Economy: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Jorge Alfredo Cerqueira-Streit & Gustavo Yuho Endo & Patricia Guarnieri & Luciano Batista, 2021. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Route for a Circular Economy: An Integrative Literature Review," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    4. Leticia Fuertes Giné & Emanuela Vanacore & Agnieszka D. Hunka, 2022. "Public Procurement for the Circular Economy: a Comparative Study of Sweden and Spain," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    5. Juan-Manuel Valverde & Carmen Avilés-Palacios, 2021. "Circular Economy as a Catalyst for Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: A Positive Relationship between Two Self-Sufficient Variables," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Susanne Arvidsson & John Dumay, 2022. "Corporate ESG reporting quantity, quality and performance: Where to now for environmental policy and practice?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1091-1110, March.
    7. Gianmarco Bressanelli & Marco Perona & Nicola Saccani, 2019. "Challenges in supply chain redesign for the Circular Economy: a literature review and a multiple case study," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(23), pages 7395-7422, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mazen A. Al-Sinan & Abdulaziz A. Bubshait & Fatimah Alamri, 2023. "Saudi Arabia’s Journey toward Net-Zero Emissions: Progress and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Abderahman Rejeb & Andrea Appolloni, 2022. "The Nexus of Industry 4.0 and Circular Procurement: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.

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