Governments worldwide have embraced the circular economy and are translating it into policies, environmental laws, and regulations. However, the socioeconomic impacts of these policies are less understood due to a lack of systematic assessment. Here, we conduct a systematic review and analysis of 128 studies to develop a typology that identifies the most likely positive and negative socioeconomic impacts of different types of CE policies. The typology guides the development of more effective and balanced policies. We identified 12 key areas of impact and further divided them into 44 sub-topics. These areas cover how the circular economy affects industries, regions, and products, as well as describe effects on workers, employees, and communities. Most circular economy policies aim to transform waste into usable resources. The literature is practice-based, dominated by regulations and reporting and financial incentives. Consumer products and plastics are in the spotlight. Employment is the most studied socioeconomic impact. Overall, the proposed typology can be used for any country, region or city to help policymakers and researchers better understand the socioeconomic impacts of circular economy policies.
FOSTER Gillian;
CALISTO FRIANT Martin;
LEIPUTĖ Beatričė;
KING Thomas;
FISCHER Thomas B;
GAUŠAS Simonas;
LANGHAM Ella;
ŠVEDKAUSKIENĖ Austėja;
MARSCHINSKI Robert;
2026-04-13
Springer Nature
JRC143199
3059-4308 (online),
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44458-026-00038-6,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC143199,
10.1038/s44458-026-00038-6 (online),
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