Future-Proofing Capitalism: The Paradox of the Circular Economy for Plastics

摘要

The marine plastics crisis sparked a wave of corporate interest in the circular economy, asustainable business model that aims to eliminate waste in industrial systems through recycling,reduction, reuse, and recovery. Drawing on debates about the role of corporationsin global environmental governance, this article examines the rise of the circular economyas a dominant corporate sustainability concept, focusing on the flagship example of thecircular economy for plastics. It argues that corporations across the plastics value chainhave coordinated their efforts to contain the circular economy policy agenda, while extendingtheir markets through developing risky circular economy technologies. These corporatestrategies of containment and proliferation represent attempts to “future-proof” capitalismagainst existential threats to public legitimacy, masking the implications for environmentaljustice. The paradox of the circular economy is that it seems to offer radical challengesto linear “take-make-waste” models of industrial capitalism, backed by internationallegislation, but it does not actually give up on unsustainable growth. We need to tacklethe plastics crisis at its root, dramatically reducing the global production of toxic andwasteful plastics.