Transformative principles for circular economy transitions in the Global South

Waste management is critical for addressing interconnected social and environmental crises associated with urbanisation, pollution, and climate change. Circular Economy (CE) is a popular approach in policy-making and the private sector to re-envision waste management beyond current take-make-dispose models. Despite the potential to promote radical reconfiguration of unsustainable regimes of resource extraction and consumerism, CE is critiqued as a techno-centric, top-down model with ambiguous environmental and social outcomes, particularly for marginalised communities in the Global South.

This paper develops a transformative approach to CE transitions integrating systems change and social justice dimensions, informed by CE, sustainability transitions, and participatory design literatures. Based on a review of 33 empirical cases centring Global South perspectives, we propose and illustrate 10 transformative principles. We conclude that these principles offer a promising, sustainable, and just approach to operationalise CE in Global South contexts whose relevance should be tested through deliberate design of CE initiatives.