Over-Reliance on Recycling: Implications for Scaling Value-Added Circular Strategies

Abstract Increasing the retention of existing resources in use can assist in mitigating climate change and the growing strain on linear resource streams. The circular economy provides a model for this, however academic literature lacks consensus on the definitions and prioritisation of the activities it embodies. Activities retaining the greatest portion of existing resources in use, retaining end-of-use resources in use at a component or product level, are often overlooked for lower retention options including recycling in policy and action. A scoping review was undertaken looking at the impacts of resource access constriction on component-level reuse. A review of 326 articles identified a 350% increase in publications related to component level reuse between 2015-2019 and 2020–2024 on ScienceDirect, however total relevant publications in 2024 numbered 26, a fraction of the 18,067 articles published on the circular economy. Exemplifying this gap, only 13 articles pertinent to producing goods incorporating component level reuse were identified. Construction, textiles, timber and whitegoods industries were represented within the articles. Inconsistencies in form, function, condition, availability, and cost of resources, were identified as common barriers to scalability. All barriers could be tied to availability of end-of-use resources. A Resource Consumption framework is proposed to reduce CE framework confusion, improving on prior R imperative frameworks. The proposed framework defines circularity around rate of resource consumption avoidance during goods production. The consistency of resource related barriers identified in the scoping review provides support for the combination of component-level reuse activities within a single activity group in the proposed framework.