Which Factors Drive The Resource Efficiency in Circular Economy? A Panel Data Regression Analysis
Gonca YılmazThe circular economy can be defined as the efficient use of resources while keeping resources in continuous feedback loops. Therefore, the life of products can be extended by finding new value streamsfor products and/or their components and putting products into as many cycles as possible. Resources are used more efficiently under the umbrella of the circular economy; based on resource efficiency, a new product design is provided to prevent waste from occurring, and it appears as a new economic model in terms of reuse and participation in the production of waste that may occur. At this point, it is critical for the functioning of the circular economy to identify the social and economic variables that are effective on resource efficiency and to reveal them with statistical analysis. In this context, in the empirical phase of the study, resource efficiency is the dependent variable, GDP per capita is used to represent economic growth as the independent variable, the share of environmental taxes in GDP, the share of R&D expenditures in GDP, the recycling rate of municipal waste, energy efficiency variables 26 European Union (EU) countries taken into account in terms of a country group. The data set has been observed annually and ranges from 2001 to 2019, depending on data availability. Panel data analysis, which is commonly used in country modeling, was used as a method in the study. According to the findings of this study, it was seen that the coefficients of environmental taxes, R&D expenditures, recycling of municipal waste, and energy efficiency variables are significant, and these variables have positive effects on resource efficiency. GDP variable has negative effects on resource efficiency.
Döngüsel Bir Ekonomide Kaynak Verimliliğini Hangi Faktörler Etkiler? Bir Panel Veri Regresyon Analizi
Gonca YılmazDöngüsel ekonomi, kaynakları verimli kullanmak ve aynı zamanda kaynakları sürekli geri bildirim döngülerinde tutmak olarak açıklanabilir. Bu nedenle, ürünler ve/veya bileşenleri için yeni değer akışları bularak ve ürünleri mümkün olduğunca çok döngüye sokarak ürünlerin ömrünün uzatılabileceği anlamına gelmektedir. Döngüsel ekonomi çatısı altında kaynaklar daha verimli kullanılarak kaynak verimliliği esas alınmakta, atıklarınortaya çıkmaması içinyenibirüründizaynısağlanmakta, oluşabilecek atıkların ise tekrar kullanımı ve üretime katılması noktasında yeni bir ekonomik model olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu noktada kaynak verimliliği üzerinde etkili olan sosyal ve ekonomik değişkenlerin belirlenmesi ve istatistiki analizlerle ortaya konması döngüsel ekonominin işleyişi için önemlidir. Bu bağlamda çalışmanın ampirik aşamasında, bağımlı değişken olarak kaynak verimliliği, bağımsız değişkenler olarak da ekonomik büyümeyi temsilen kullanılan kişi başına düşen GSYİH, çevre vergilerinin GSYİH içindeki payı, Ar-Ge harcamalarının GSYİH içindeki payı, belediye atıklarının geri dönüşüm oranı, enerji verimliliği değişkenleri 26 AB ülke grubu açısından dikkate alınmıştır. Veri seti yıllık olarak gözlenmiş olup verilerin ulaşılabilirliğine bağlı olarak 2001-2019 dönemini kapsamaktadır. Çalışmada yöntem olarak ülkeler ile ilgili modellemelerde sıkça kullanılan panel veri analizi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada elde edilen sonuçlara göre, çevre vergileri, Ar-Ge harcamaları, belediye atıklarının geri dönüşümü ve enerji verimliliği değişkenlerine ait katsayıların anlamlı olduğu görülmekte ve bu değişkenlerin kaynak verimliliği üzerinde pozitif yönlü etkileri bulunmaktadır. GSYİH değişkeninin ise anlamlı olmadığı gözlenmiştir
Industrialization, the burning of fossil fuels, the unconscious use of resources, and the destruction of forests have resulted in the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and in the long run, climate change on a global scale and ultimately the climate crisis due to the greenhouse effect. It has revealed that the takemake-use-dispose linear economy shaped by today’s production and consumption patterns can no longer meet the needs of modern society. The gradual exhaustion of unlimited resources has made access to raw materials incredibly hard, and rising environmental pollution and climate change have pushed countries to embark on a new quest. One of the new ways of searching is the circular economy as a sustainable production/consumption model. The circular economy operates differently from the linear economy in the traditional structure. By combining sustainability, resource efficiency, and life cycle, it emerges as a new production and consumption model. To overcome this situation, the circular economy has emerged as an alternative model to the traditional linear economy. It has revealed that the linear economy approach is dependent on resource exploitation and aims to separate economic growth from primary resource dependence in order to overcome this situation. The circular economy can be defined as the efficient use of resources while keeping resources in continuous feedback loops. Resource efficiency, which is about doing more with less, is addressed in a resource-efficient European roadmap report of the EU as ‘improving economic performance while reducing pressure on natural resources (EC, 2011). Similarly, the United Nations (2010) defined resource efficiency as ‘consuming less material and producing more welfare while respecting the world’s ecological carrying capacity. As can be seen from these two definitions, it is emphasized that economic performance and welfare should be maintained with fewer natural resources, in other words, the implementation and realization of steps following the principle of resource efficiency.
In this context, in the empirical phase of the study, resource efficiency is the dependent variable, GDP per capita is used to represent economic growth as the independent variable, the share of environmental taxes in GDP, the share of R&D expenditures in GDP, the recycling rate of municipal waste, energy efficiency variables 26 European Union (EU) countries taken into account in terms of a country group. The data set has been observed annually and covers the period 2001-2019, depending on the availability of the data. Panel data analysis, which is commonly used in country modeling, was used as a method in the study. According to the results obtained in the study, it is seen that the coefficients of environmental taxes, R&D expenditures, recycling of municipal waste, and energy efficiency variables are significant, and these variables have positive effects on resource efficiency. GDP variable has a negative impact on resource efficiency.
This is the first study in the literature to include resource efficiency as a dependent variable in the analysis of circular economy studies.
