Journal of Circular Economy (Journal)

Description

Scope of the special issue:
A shift to a Circular Economy (CE) is urgently needed in the built environment. By 2030, it is expected that more
than the equivalent of two planet Earths resources will be needed to meet humans’ demands of natural resources.
The construction industry is the most resource-intensive sector in industrialized countries. Furthermore, it causes
one third of the world's total waste and is responsible for a significant amount of global energy-related
greenhouse gas emissions. This is mainly due to its linear economy model - the “take, make and dispose” culture.
Scholars, practitioners, and governments agree that the CE principles of closing (reusing and recycling),
narrowing (using fewer), slowing (extending the lifetime), and regenerating (using renewables) resource loops
can significantly support the transition.
At the same time, Industry 4.0, also known as the “fourth industrial revolution”, has triggered a paradigm shift in
the manufacturing sector. Industry 4.0 as a technology framework can be used for integrating and extending
manufacturing processes through digital technologies (Rosa et al., 2020). Digital technologies are recognized as
necessary facilitators of a CE in the built environment. However, the digital transformation of the sector has been
rather slow compared to other industries (Chan et al., 2020). This may hold back greater adoption of CE in the built
environment.
Recently, there has been a substantial increase in the number of review papers that discuss the intersection of
Circular Economy, digital technologies, and the built environment. Some of these are written by us, the guest
editors of this call for papers (see, e.g., Cetin et al., 2021). This increase in review papers follows a general trend in
CE literature. Although we believe in the value of review papers, we also agree with the recent provocation of
Kirchherr (2022) “up to 50% of the articles that are now being published in many interdisciplinary sustainability
and transition journals may be categorized as ‘scholarly bullshit’.” We observe the troubling beginnings of these
trends also emerging in the built environment. We believe there is a great need for scholarships that demonstrate
practical implementations of digital technologies that advance a circular built environment.
Therefore, this special issue aims to move “Beyond the Hype” of the circular digital built environment. In this call,
we are looking for papers that demonstrate tangible examples and their relevance to practice. In other words, to
move from research to action. Articles can incorporate real-world implementations or research results with a
strong link to practice. Although review articles, which have their place, are welcomed in the journal, they are not
within the scope of this special issue.
We welcome articles that target one or more digital technologies and their interrelationship with the circular
economy. These potentially enabling technologies include blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, building
information modeling, digital platforms, digital twins, material passports, internet of things and geographic
information systems. This special issue focuses on the use of digital technologies not only for closing the loop
strategies but also other CE principles of narrowing, slowing and regenerating the material loops.

https://circulareconomyjournal.org/article-volumes/volume-1/issue-2-volume-1/

Period	Apr 2023 → Dec 2023
Type of journal	Journal
ISSN	2752-163X
Degree of Recognition	International