Introduction 9
wooden construction elements, with a path including different sectors, such
as wooden residues used as feedstock for animals. However, LCAs focus on
tracing the sustainability of new products across sectoral boundaries.
In this book we will study examples of value creation crossing sectoral
boundaries. We will also discuss to what extent these are really more sustainable than established alternatives. Another important issue is how circularity
across sector boundaries is dependent on cooperation with and knowledge of
actors in other sectors. In particular, we target the need for addressing the
specific geographic context to achieve such circularity across sector boundaries, as the next subsection, in particular, thematises.
1.2.2 Regional embedding and geographies of innovation
Making the economy “more circular”, and adding value to resources that are
currently unexploited, requires some form of innovation. The most direct
and visible form of innovation would touch the existing value circles, and
would prominently involve bridging across existing value circles: if some
form of waste is generated at some level of one existing value circle, innovation may allow such waste to become an input within a different value circle.
In some cases, what is currently being wasted in a value circle could be
technically ready to be an input in a different circle, but the bridge between
the two circles cannot be easily crossed when the circles are not situated in
the same geographic area. Innovation might then be required to allow easier
transportation of waste: for instance, wood chips can be treated to not absorb
humidity during transportation, and thus be introduced into geographically
distant value circles.
In other cases, what is currently being wasted can become an input only
after a chemical or mechanical transformation: for instance, food waste can be
transformed into biofuel. If the type of waste cannot be transported easily or
cheaply, the chemical/mechanical transformation (and the innovation connected to it) must occur in the same location where the waste is produced.
However, innovation may also occur on the consumption side. The creation
of car models which employ biofuel is an example of the coordination of
different value circles which intersect only at the consumption side. Innovations
that are more consumption- based, and less technological, may involve the
development of new business models. In these cases, the geographic dimension
is also relevant. For instance, when local gardening is used to promote biofoods, trust may be required by the consumer to buy a product which looks or
tastes differently than usual, and such trust needs to be created at a local level.
Even more evident is the case of public procurement, where the consumption
stimulated by the public sector, for instance in the case of a municipality acquiring buses fuelled by bio- methane, may have a politically clear local origin.
It should also be kept in mind that the innovation process itself can depend
on locational attributes, and not only because of value circle considerations
and institutional setting. Every location provides a particular knowledge set
wooden construction elements, with a path including different sectors, such
as wooden residues used as feedstock for animals. However, LCAs focus on
tracing the sustainability of new products across sectoral boundaries.
In this book we will study examples of value creation crossing sectoral
boundaries. We will also discuss to what extent these are really more sustainable than established alternatives. Another important issue is how circularity
across sector boundaries is dependent on cooperation with and knowledge of
actors in other sectors. In particular, we target the need for addressing the
specific geographic context to achieve such circularity across sector boundaries, as the next subsection, in particular, thematises.
1.2.2 Regional embedding and geographies of innovation
Making the economy “more circular”, and adding value to resources that are
currently unexploited, requires some form of innovation. The most direct
and visible form of innovation would touch the existing value circles, and
would prominently involve bridging across existing value circles: if some
form of waste is generated at some level of one existing value circle, innovation may allow such waste to become an input within a different value circle.
In some cases, what is currently being wasted in a value circle could be
technically ready to be an input in a different circle, but the bridge between
the two circles cannot be easily crossed when the circles are not situated in
the same geographic area. Innovation might then be required to allow easier
transportation of waste: for instance, wood chips can be treated to not absorb
humidity during transportation, and thus be introduced into geographically
distant value circles.
In other cases, what is currently being wasted can become an input only
after a chemical or mechanical transformation: for instance, food waste can be
transformed into biofuel. If the type of waste cannot be transported easily or
cheaply, the chemical/mechanical transformation (and the innovation connected to it) must occur in the same location where the waste is produced.
However, innovation may also occur on the consumption side. The creation
of car models which employ biofuel is an example of the coordination of
different value circles which intersect only at the consumption side. Innovations
that are more consumption- based, and less technological, may involve the
development of new business models. In these cases, the geographic dimension
is also relevant. For instance, when local gardening is used to promote biofoods, trust may be required by the consumer to buy a product which looks or
tastes differently than usual, and such trust needs to be created at a local level.
Even more evident is the case of public procurement, where the consumption
stimulated by the public sector, for instance in the case of a municipality acquiring buses fuelled by bio- methane, may have a politically clear local origin.
It should also be kept in mind that the innovation process itself can depend
on locational attributes, and not only because of value circle considerations
and institutional setting. Every location provides a particular knowledge set