IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/glenvp/v21y2021i2p121-142.html

Future-Proofing Capitalism: The Paradox of the Circular Economy for Plastics

Author

Listed:
  • Alice Mah

Abstract

The marine plastics crisis sparked a wave of corporate interest in the circular economy, a sustainable business model that aims to eliminate waste in industrial systems through recycling, reduction, reuse, and recovery. Drawing on debates about the role of corporations in global environmental governance, this article examines the rise of the circular economy as a dominant corporate sustainability concept, focusing on the flagship example of the circular economy for plastics. It argues that corporations across the plastics value chain have coordinated their efforts to contain the circular economy policy agenda, while extending their markets through developing risky circular economy technologies. These corporate strategies of containment and proliferation represent attempts to “future-proof” capitalism against existential threats to public legitimacy, masking the implications for environmental justice. The paradox of the circular economy is that it seems to offer radical challenges to linear “take-make-waste” models of industrial capitalism, backed by international legislation, but it does not actually give up on unsustainable growth. We need to tackle the plastics crisis at its root, dramatically reducing the global production of toxic and wasteful plastics.

Suggested Citation

  • Alice Mah, 2021. "Future-Proofing Capitalism: The Paradox of the Circular Economy for Plastics," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 21(2), pages 121-142, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:21:y:2021:i:2:p:121-142
    DOI: 10.1162/glep_a_00594
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00594
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1162/glep_a_00594?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sahra Svensson-Hoglund & Jennifer D. Russell & Jessika Luth Richter & Paul Dewick & Leonidas Milios & Martin Calisto Friant & Anne P. M. Velenturf & Marianna Lena Kambanou & Rich Grousset & Sandra Gol, 2026. "Advancing Our Understanding of CE Loop Strategies: A Synthesizing Framework for Durable Consumer Products," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-33, April.
    2. Artūras Torkelis & Jolanta Dvarionienė & Gintaras Denafas, 2024. "The Factors Influencing the Recycling of Plastic and Composite Packaging Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-30, October.
    3. Stumpf, Lukas & Schöggl, Josef-Peter & Baumgartner, Rupert J., 2023. "Circular plastics packaging – Prioritizing resources and capabilities along the supply chain," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Tilsted, Joachim Peter & Bauer, Fredric, 2024. "Connected we stand: Lead firm ownership ties in the global petrochemical industry," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    5. Erez Yerushalmi & Krishnendu Saha, 2025. "How Circular Economy Innovation Can Backfire on the Environment: Quantifying the Rebound Effect of the Textiles and Clothing Sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(8), pages 10495-10512, December.
    6. Martin Calisto Friant & Walter J. V. Vermeulen & Roberta Salomone, 2024. "Transition to a Sustainable Circular Society: More than Just Resource Efficiency," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 23-42, March.
    7. Hervé Corvellec & Alison F. Stowell & Nils Johansson, 2022. "Critiques of the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 421-432, April.
    8. Salih Çevikarslan & Carsten Gelhard & Jörg Henseler, 2022. "Improving the Material and Financial Circularity of the Plastic Packaging Value Chain in The Netherlands: Challenges, Opportunities, and Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-23, June.
    9. Lina Raquel Rodríguez-Meza & Felipe Romero-Perdomo & Miguel Ángel González-Curbelo, 2025. "Analyzing Government Plans for the Plastic Value Chain in the Latin American Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(5), pages 4447-4468, October.
    10. Bauer, Fredric & Fontenit, Germain, 2021. "Plastic dinosaurs – Digging deep into the accelerating carbon lock-in of plastics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. Gavin Melles & Suresh Gautam & Richan Shrestha, 2025. "Circular Economy for Nepal’s Sustainable Development Ambitions," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, January.
    12. Linda Mederake, 2023. "Without a Debate on Sufficiency, a Circular Plastics Economy will Remain an Illusion," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1425-1439, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:21:y:2021:i:2:p:121-142. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: The MIT Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://direct.mit.edu/journals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.