This theses presents a discussion on the symbiotic relationship between the economic development and environmental protection. The presentation is based upon an extensive literature overview with a strong focus on Chinese research publications.

More resources are being defined as critical, which can be attributed to the linear economy of ‘take, make and dispose’. An alternative is to implement the circular economy (CE) which could reduce several negative effects, among other things resource depletion. The aim of this thesis is to identify what current sustainability indicators are lacking to assess a resource with the CE concept. This is done by developing CE core indicators, which then are compared with sustainability indicators. The life cycle of rare earth elements (REE) is used as a case study to validate the CE core indicators. To achieve this literature studies and comparative analysis will be performed. Existing definitions and indicators of CE were studied to compile a complete set of core indicators. These compiled CE core indicators were then compared with adapted United Nation (UN) sustainability indicators. The UN indicators were chosen after analysing several different sustainability indicator system and their compatibility with the resource perspective. The main differences between the UN indicators and CE core indicators is that the UN indicators does not include economic aspects such as market diversity and social aspects such as consumption behaviour. However, the UN indicator system includes transportation and governance that could be beneficial to include into the CE concept. The economic viability to perform the CE analysis and non-existing CE indicators for companies and countries were identified as two barriers that could hinder development and efficient use of a CE indicator system. A way to increase the economic viability is to use already generated data for the CE indicator analysis, though the economical aspect has to be studied further. The non-existing CE indicators for companies and countries are counted as a barrier due to the risk of sub-optimisation of one resource. Additionally, the CE indicator results could be misinterpreted to blame a few for the problems of the resource instead of using the results to improve all parts of the life cycle. Further research is also needed to investigate how, or even if, social aspects such as culture and society could be indicated within a CE indicator system. In conclusion, the UN indicator system could be a good baseline to develop a CE indicator system for a resource though further research is needed.

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Inspired by the implicit beauty Asian paper could create in interior design (Tanizaki 1977), the cultural and historical value it bears, and its sustainable papermaking process, this research intends to apply Asian paper’s aesthetic and sustainable value in luminaire design. This is an exploratory and project-based study, which includes four steps. The first step investigates different types of Asian paper, their characteristics, and their visual qualities when interacting with light. The second step examines what is available in the market with similar materials in case studies. The third step follows the prototype making with the focus on design for the circular economy. The fourth step concludes the study with an in-depth discussion on sustainability, and in particular, the significance of the application of the circular economy in the lighting industry. The objective is to promote Asian paper as a sustainable material, which is beneficial for creating good light for modern interior lighting design.

The lighting industry has not only approached circularity within production of luminaires but also in contemporary time introduced a model of service that uses circular principles, lighting as a service (LaaS). Lighting as a service offers clients a leasing contract of luminaires including maintenance, upgrades and repairs. The concept is yet new and not very established to suit all fields. This thesis is focused on visual aesthetics and functional factors of lighting as a service in relation to clothing retail spaces. Lighting design has an important role for clothing stores' representation of products and customer’s experience which makes a complex relation between retail lighting design aims and lighting as a service to cohere. Methods used in this thesis includes site-visits to evaluate retail lighting qualities of various stores in Stockholm city, two case studies of earlier documented lighting as a service project that’s evaluated through two separate SWOT-analyzes. This to investigate principles of lighting as a service, visual aesthetics and functional factors and the possibility to practice the service in clothing retail spaces. The result is presented in written form and a 3d model made in the software program DIAlux evo.

Copper is a metal that is commonly found in our society's infrastructure, such as cables and wires. In addressing the climate threat, society is facing a major transition towards electrification and digitization, and here copper plays an essential role. Since copper is a main component in the infrastructure, the demand for copper has increased rapidly due to the electrification of, for example, the automotive industry. Even though copper in the earth’s crust is a scarce resource, it can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing its quality. For this reason, meeting future demand partly through secondary copper production is likely to be important. The aim of this study is to investigate what factors influence the secondary refined copper production levels in nine different countries in Europe. Specifically, the study examines how electricity prices, copper scrap prices, primary production of copper, GDP per capita and cost of labor affect the supply of secondary refined copper. The empirical analysis is based on data from nine European countries and over a period of 21 years, 1998 – 2019, thus adopting a panel data approach. The results from the econometric analyses show that all five variables tend to influence the supply of secondary refined copper, some having a more profound effect than the others. For instance, the findings suggest the presence of a low and negative electricity price elasticity of secondary refined supply, while an increase in the copper scrap price appears to have significant deterring impact on secondary refined copper production.

To tackle the current global climate and sustainability challenges, Sweden aims to transition to a circular economy and society. The purpose of this thesisis to explore and gain a better understanding of the current state of theentrepreneurial ecosystem on a national level that supports the transition to acircular economy in Sweden and explore potential collaborative activity between the components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This thesis favours a qualitative approach and an inductive strategy, thus forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.The theoretical framework consists of a conceptual framework based on the two concepts entrepreneurial ecosystem (phenomena) and circular economy (context) which provide a springboard for the thesis. The findings outline that there is no consensus amongst the interviewees concerning the existence of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports the transition to a circular economy in Sweden. Thus, the entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports the transition to acircular economy in Sweden is still in the starting phase and needs to overcome several challenges in order to be able to provide a favourable and supportive entrepreneurial climate to transition to a circular economy in Sweden. This thesis makes a valuable academic contribution to the scarce literature on the topic and has practical relevance by providing a unique overview and understanding of the current state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem supporting the transition to a circular economy in Sweden and the collaborative activity within, which can be further useful to already existing and new components within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as further useful for researchers.

This study is part of a feasibility study conducted by the Sustainability and Resilience Company (su-re.co), and is identified within this report as the sustainability vetting. This study aims to evaluate the sustainability of the natural indigo-dyeing process at a small medium enterprise (SME) batik dying community, Ciwaringin Batik, located in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. Following this, sustainable development strategies (SDS) based on the Circular Economy (CE) RESOLVE Framework will be created for Ciwaringin Batik to further empower the community and provide sustainable business growth initiatives. An iterative qualitative and quantitative data methodology is used when collecting and analyzing production data from Ciwaringin Batik. Data is collected from 9 Ciwaringin Batik craftsmen, who use natural indigo dye during batik production, in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) format, questionnaires, and through a site-visit to Ciwaringin Batik. Water and indigo consumption data was thoroughly analyzed as it is directly related to a feasibility study conducted by su-re.co and is relevant to their future involvement with Ciwaringin. Current sustainable and “unsustainable” production practices were identified, 10 SDS’s were created following the RESOLVE framework structure, 6 SDS’s were explained and then prioritized regarding implementation feasibility.

The circular economy (CE) is increasingly recognized as a pivotal driver for achieving sustainability. Nonetheless, it has been criticized for neglecting the social dimension of sustainability. While job creation is often touted as a significant social benefit of the CE, there is a conspicuous gap in discussions about the quality of the jobs it generates. By drawing on organizational behavior theory, this study investigates the quality of jobs in the CE with a specific focus on meaningfulness. The research questions explore the key factors contributing to job meaningfulness in CE roles, the impact of heightened awareness of the CE on workers' perceived meaningfulness, and the mechanisms through which such awareness affects meaningfulness. To address these questions, a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental study was conducted, involving employees from two CE companies in the United States. The study assessed factors such as autonomy, skill variety, co-worker relations, knowledge of the CE, perceived social impact, perceived social worth, and experienced job meaningfulness. An intervention was then implemented on a treatment group, consisting of a five-minute training video explaining the CE concept, its benefits, and the role of workers in the CE. The findings reveal that the video intervention effectively increased employees' perception of task significance, perceived social impact, experienced meaningfulness, and awareness of the CE's impact on society and environment, as well as their perception of their contribution to the CE, the organization's contribution to the CE, and the societal value of the CE. This study highlights the importance for CE companies to provide employees with general training on the CE. Additionally, it provides initial evidence of the potential of a CE to increase human well-being, especially when considered from the eudemonic perspective of what gives life meaning rather than purely economic measures of well-being. / Master of Science / This study looks at the kind of jobs created by the circular economy (CE) and how they affect sustainability and well-being. The CE is about making the best use of resources and, as a consequence, to reducing waste, but it has been criticized for not paying enough attention to how it affects people's lives and jobs. This research focuses on understanding what makes a job in the CE meaningful and how CE knowledge may affect how workers feel about their jobs. To do this, employees at two CE companies in the U.S. were studied. The research looked at how much control employees have over their work tasks, the variety of skills that are demanded by their work, and how they get along with their co-workers, as well as their familiarity with the concept of the CE. The sampled workers were separated into two groups (treatment and control). The treatment group watched a video that explained what the CE is and how their work contributes to it and to a better world. The study found this video made these workers feel that their work had a bigger impact and that their jobs were more meaningful. It also made them see the CE as something that helps society and the environment. The main research contribution is that companies in the CE should give their employees training and lessons about what the CE is. By doing so, workers may increase their experienced meaningfulness on the job, which could enhance an individual's overall happiness and productivity at work. This research also shows the need for discussions on sustainability and the CE to include what gives meaning to our lives when we are thinking of human well-being.

Nitrogen recovery from wastewater treatment for fertilizers is a research topic that exists at the intersection of multiple topics important to the future of sustainable society. First, nitrogen recovery from wastewater implies a departure from the current methods of nitrogen mitigation, which involve nitrogen removal by conversion of various aqueous species to inert nitrogen gas. Secondly, by recovering nitrogen from wastewater specifically, there is the opportunity to begin a circular economy where value added products can be obtained from material that has historically been seen as a “waste”. Current wastewater treatment involves nitrogen removal through the biological transformation of aqueous nitrogen species to inert nitrogen gas. This process is energy intensive and risks the production of air pollutants such as N2O as intermediates in the biological transformation. If this nitrogen can be captured in a form that can be reused, a valuable product can be achieved with the potential reduction of both the energy required at the wastewater treatment plant as well as the carbon footprint. Finally, by recovering nitrogen in a form that can be used in agriculture as a fertilizer, additional environmental benefits can be realized by reducing reliance on Haber-Bosch based ammonia production, which is also energy intensive and contributes harmful emissions to the atmosphere. The work described in the following licentiate aims to consider the current status of nitrogen recovery from wastewater for fertilizers as a research topic. Literature was analytically examined to compare different techniques in terms of energy requirements, cost for fertilizer production, market for final fertilizer product, and technological readiness. The most interesting findings from this review were that there seems to be a disconnect between the fertilizer product produced by nitrogen recovery techniques and the market, which will become a challenge if these techniques are implemented at a large scale. The attitude of the farmers with regards to fertilizers from waste was overall positive, with their concerns mainly focused on the performance ability and cost of the product. Additionally, many techniques such as microbial fuel cells and microbial electrolysis cells have been unable to move past the laboratory phase despite being researched for many years. This indicates there are cost and technological barriers that are preventing the further scale up and implementation of these techniques. Energy and cost analyses will be crucial to motivate investment into these processes, and these are missing for many of the techniques found around this topic. To contribute to this field, experimental work was also included to assess the potential for ammonium adsorption from concentrated wastewater for fertilizer production. The experimental work focused on the utilization of the solid product of pyrolysis of sewage sludge (biochar) for adsorption and explored the potential enhancement of the char with various chemical treatments. The char with the best ammonium adsorption performance was found to be using a treatment of HNO3 followed by and NaOH, with an adsorption capacity of 4 mg NH4/g biochar. This char was compared with commercially activated carbon and clinoptilolite for full scale applications. It was found that even with this increased adsorption capacity, the use of chemically enhanced sewage sludge biochar for full scale applications is not realistic. The amount of raw material required for the complete recovery of ammonium from reject water at the municipal wastewater treatment plants exceeds the total amount of sewage sludge generated. Therefore it is recommended that the goal of incorporating sewage sludge biochar with wastewater treatment is to produce a solid fertilizer product loaded with ammonium (which would provide ammonium-N and phosphorus for plant growth, as well as carbon and other minerals for soil amendment) rather than having the goal be complete ammonium recovery from the wastewater stream.