Breaking Barriers: Accelerating the Transition to a Circular Economy

Global resource consumption is continuously increasing, accelerating the transgression of planetary boundaries. Solving the related environmental problems requires targeted action and a systemic transition from the prevailing linear economic model to a circular one. This paper adopts a systemic approach to identify the transition barriers across relevant levels, including product, business, ecosystem, industry, and society/regulation systems. It contributes to research by structuring and mapping the barriers based on eight underlying mechanisms. These mechanisms help explain how the barriers function and why they hinder the transition of socio-technical regimes from linear to circular ones. For example, the Prisoner’s Dilemma describes how short-term self-interests often overrule collective benefits and leads to suboptimal outcomes. The mechanisms also provide insights into potential solutions for addressing the barriers and accelerating the implementation of a circular economy. Illustrative examples from practice are introduced to demonstrate that “breaking barriers” is both possible and necessary—primarily through various forms of collaboration.