Deciding for circularity
The University of Leeds developed a decision-making framework for the preparation of regional business strategies for circular economy solutions for wind turbines. Here we give you a first insight into this framework, and will continue to update you on further developments during the EoLO HUBs project. The research will result in a final step-by-step guide for people in economic development and business who are interested in establishing a circular economy for the wind industry.
Why this framework?
Transitioning to a circular economy needs an holistic, long-term focused approach, as different stakeholders depend on each other to be able to take action for greater circularity. For example, circular business models of companies may depend on governments for ambitious and enabling sustainable resources policy, while policy-makers may depend on companies and researchers to understand what circular economy solutions can be included in new policies.
Circular economy approaches are not commonly and systematically used in the design, operation and end-of-use management (https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/17/5540 ). Building new wind farms requires massive amounts of materials, while the first generation of wind turbines is reaching the end of their first lifecycle. Now is therefore a crucial time to embed circular economy solutions into wind supply chains.
How to use this framework?
The framework forms the basis for a longer-term circular economy transition process, in this case for the wind industry and affiliated companies and stakeholders. The process is proposed to be managed by a facilitation team within a region. The framework puts stakeholder involvement at the heart of the process, managing stakeholder interactions through three iterative steps as circular economies within regions evolve over time, going through system exploration, development of whole system solutions, and the preparation and delivery of actions to implement circular solutions. The process is regularly evaluated to make sure that the strategies for a circular economy for the wind industry will develop the best environmental, social and economic benefits at any given time.
To learn more about the decision-making framework you can contact Dr Anne Velenturf (A.Velenturf@leeds.ac.uk ) and for more information on circular economy transitions in the wind industry you can check out our Transition Support Database.
