The circular economy—Past, present, and future

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22018
• Author: Mary B. Teagarden
• Date: 01 September 2018
• Published date: 01 September 2018

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The circular economy—Past, present, and future

For over half a century, since RachaelCarson (1962) focused attention

on the relationship between economic growth and development and

degradation of the physical environment, a handful of scholars have

explored the impact of business and economic development on the

environment. Shortly thereafter, economist Kenneth Boulding wrote a

seminal essay, “TheEconomics of the Coming Spaceship Earth”where he

coined the phrase “circular economy,”one in which a finite quantit y of

material is repeatedly recycled instead of discarded (Boulding, 1966).

Boulding went on to write The World as a Total System that built upon

his earlier concept of the world as a closed system akin to a spaceship

with limited input resources (Boulding, 1985). Before Carson and

Boulding began their work, Karl-William Kapp, considered one of the

founders of environmental economics, penned The Social Cost of Busi-

ness Enterprises in 1950 andreintroduced this same work in 1963 with

significant changes (Kapp, 1963). The confluence of these intellectual

streams has taken us to our current thinking about the circular econ-

omy, as exemplifiedby the articles in this Special Issue.

The circular economy concept can be seen as the underpinning of

many works like Braungart and McDonough’s book, Cradle to Cradle,

that contains the following observation:

Consider this: all the ants on the planet, taken

together, have a biomass greater than that of humans.

Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of

years. Yet their productiveness nourishes plants, ani-

mals, and soil. Human industry has been in full swing

for little over a century, yet it has brought about a

decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet.

Nature doesn’t have a design problem. Humans

do. (Braungart & McDonough, 2002)

Despite the good thinking that has been applied to the circular

economy concept, some of the future issues that could be produc-

tively considered by scholars include issues of power and power ineq-

uities that undermine the circular economy, social justice, and

relationships between institutional and social systems. Toward the

end of his career Kenneth Boulding (1990) tackled the issue of power

in a variety of contexts, including the circular economy and published

his thoughts in The Three Faces of Power (Boulding, 1990). Julie Sze

has just published a book, Sustainability: Approaches to Environmental

Justice and Social Power, that explores power and environmental jus-

tice in the “global south”(Sze, 2018). There is not much scholarship

focused on this important topic. There is abundant opportunity to

continue development and understanding of this thinking. Addition-

ally, the early work did not address relationships between social sys-

tems and institutional systems, another fruitful path for scholars who

want to help practitioners make sense of this very complex topic. We

hope that this Special Issue moves our knowledge forward and

inspires scholars to revisit this topic.

Mark Esposito, Terence Tse, and Khaled Soufani are the Guest

Editors who so capably guided this Special Issue to fruition. We owe

them a debt of gratitude for bringing together this fine collection of

perspectives on the circular economy. I personally owe them a debt of

gratitude for providing the opportunity for me to visit my early intel-

lectual passion, environment, and sustainability. A special thank you is

extended to all the authors who contributed to this Special Issue.

Thank you for you critiques, extensions of the circular economy to

emerging markets, real world success examples like Patagonia, and

practical suggestions for next steps, and why it is in international busi-

ness’interest to embrace the circular economy concept. I hope you

enjoy this issue as much as I have.

Mary B. Teagarden

REFERENCES

Boulding, K. (1966). The economics of the coming spaceship earth. In

H. Jarrett (Ed.), Environmental quality in a growing economy: Essays from

the Sixth RFF Forum (pp. 3–14). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Univer-

sity Press.

Boulding, K. (1985). The world as a total system. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Boulding, K. (1990). The three faces of power. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Braungart, M., & McDonough, W. (2002). Cradle to cradle. New York, NY:

Northpoint.

Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring.

Kapp, K.-W. (1963). Social costs of business enterprises. Nottingham,

England: Spokesman.

Sze, J. (2018). Sustainability: Approaches to environmental justice and social

power. New York, NY: NYU Press.

DOI: 10.1002/tie.22018

Thunderbird Int Bus Rev. 2018;60:723. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tie © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 723