“The Problems that we have Today, are Yesterday’s Solutions”: Enabling Circular Non-toxic Supply Chains

Today’s production and consumption are increasingly overusing and polluting natural resources. In response, actors globally are developing circular economy strategies to use resources such as materials and products in a sustainable way. An important but often neglected part of the circular economy is hazardous chemicals. These are part of everyday products and when recycled they become part of the resource cycle. This paper discusses the management of circular non-toxic supply chains, focusing on goal conflicts and synergies in policy and regulation, issues of transparency and traceability in supply chains, and difficult trade-offs and knowledge gaps regarding circularity and end-of-life. The exploratory study builds on semi-structured interviews and reference group discussions with respondents from the chemicals management and circular economy sectors. The results show that the transition to a circular non-toxic economy is impeded by insufficient legislation, policy incoherence and low supply chain transparency and traceability. This leads to the circulation of hazardous chemicals in materials and products, including legacy chemicals, significantly increasing consumer and environmental exposure. The findings illustrate how designing products and materials to be non-toxic from the start creates synergies and opportunities for a sustainable use of resources and how a hazard-based approach to risk management promotes circularity and safer consumer products. It also identifies relevant management and policy steps to achieve a circular, non-toxic economy as part of the transition to a society that meets today’s environmental and resource challenges.