Promovendus: Mw. V. Ross

Promotor: Mw. Prof. J.A.W. van Zeben

Duur: 28/1/2020 - 28/1/2024

Promotie: Wageningen, 9/4/2024

Abstract:

As a global leader in CE law, the EU has recently released its second circular economy (CE) strategy and, within this, the Single Use Plastics Directive. However, legal frameworks that such laws and related business initiatives operate within are often fragmented and unsupportive of the connected, integrated and adaptive production systems needed to achieve circularity. In response, this project looks to deepen understanding of the legislative and policy approaches being used to develop a CE through an analysis on the roles of reflexivity and informational governance in EU law for plastics. A case study approach is taken to (a) elucidate the structures and boundaries for reflexivity in CE law; (b) identify networks and informational practices undertaken by actors in different levels of the legal system; (c) compare such elements of reflexivity and information with private governance arrangements; and (d) determine the extent that the law reflexively adapts to on-the-ground, firm-level CE practices.