Considering the importance of waste metals for the transition to circular economies, this study follows a bioinspired approach to evaluate their material and monetary global trade patterns for sustainability and equity. Between 2000 and 2022, the global trade grew by 5 % in trading countries, by 37 % in trade links, by 71 % in material flows, and by 569 % in economic flows. Driven by indirect effects, the average circulation of material and monetary flows ranged between 21.8-34.9 - 34.9 % depending on the demand or supply perspective but showed a declining trend. Due to homogenization, high network redundancy, and low network efficiency the trade remained robust yet outside the "window of vitality" characterizing natural ecosystems. A few, mostly high-income countries dominated the market, consolidating imports of high-value metal waste mostly from low- and middle- income exporters. Policies should address circularity and trade inequities, accounting for environmental and social ramifications throughout the lifecycle of products and materials.

The circular practice of repair extends the lifetime of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and thus decreases their environmental impact. This investigation centres on Hong Kong, which features a high per-capita consumption of electronics, and explores what factors drive consumer behaviour intention to repair EEE. In terms of materials, a Likert-scaled questionnaire survey was conducted among Hong Kong consumers (n = 609). This data was treated via an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) incorporating the factors 'awareness of consequences', 'environmental concern 'and 'policy concern'. The extended TPB model features a strong predictive power (54 %) for behavioural intention to repair, on which environmental concern ((3 = 0.473***) and perceived behavioural control ((3 = 0.224***) had the strongest influence. Policy concern ((3 = 0.068ns), however, turned out to be statistically insignificant. This provides critical insights on the factors that policy and research need to further explore for strengthening circular economic consumer behaviour in Hong Kong.

The fast growth of food delivery services in China has vastly increased consumption and environmental impact of plastic-based, single-use food and beverage containers (FaBCs). A viable solution to curb plastic pollution from FaBCs is to apply circular economy (CE) principles in regulations, business models, and consumption patterns. The present paper centers on FaBCs from food deliveries in Guangzhou and uses first-hand data on FaBC waste generation to evaluate the resulting environmental impacts via a life cycle assessment (LCA). Having tested five LCA scenarios centering on CE principles, a 'combined scenario' comprising refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycling strategies was found effective in reducing emissions and water use by 25.5 %-66.4 %. Taking these quantitative findings as benchmarks for what circular policy should deliver, the paper synthesizes various CE measures proven effective within and outside of China into implementable policy scenarios. By merging producer responsibility schemes, reverse logistics, Internet-of-Things applications as well as an alternation of bans with the use of reusables, the paper outlines three pathways towards an evidence-based, viable circular policy transition for food deliveries in Guangzhou.

The environmental and health impacts from single-use packaging plastics (SUPPs) constitute a critical hurdle for a sustainable future. Environmentally less impactful substitutes are being developed by circular business models (CBMs), such as reusable and SUPP-replacing products. To get rooted within a system, i.e., achieving customer acceptance and alignment with regulatory and market contexts, CBMs need to undergo transition stages. The present study investigates these transitions, in particular, the hereto underlying mechanisms of learning and solution-trialling. Based on questionnaire-guided interviews with 11 circular enterprises in Hong Kong, the investigation classifies applied learning and solution-trialling mechanisms. It then assesses if companies exhibit similarities in the practice of mechanisms and whether these influence the firms' circular business strategies over time. The findings show that circular firms featuring significant correlations in the use of solution-trialling and learning mechanisms also exhibit a notable alignment in their circular business strategies.

Collection, as the first stage of the recycling process, and pre-processing to increase waste stream purity constitute key operations for achieving high recycling rates and a closed loop in the circular economy. For wastepaper recycling in Hong Kong, it is the semi-formal-informal recycling (SFIR) sector that plays a central role in both stages. This study analyses the so far little explored SFIR stakeholder network in Hong Kong and sheds light on value chains, recovered waste paper quantities and the impact of policies on the sector. The findings show that SFIR stakeholders reclaim 55.6 t/recycling station/month of wastepaper and thereby achieve about a 5.7 times higher reclaim rate than the formal-private recycling system. Critical to this achievement is the SFIR transaction network, which enables its stakeholders to develop a value chain and thereby generate an added value of around 1900 HKD (243.9 USD/t) for wastepaper. Given limited circular structures in Hong Kong, financial subsidies are critical to sustain the SFIR's operations over the short-term. However, over the long-term legalization and integration of its stakeholders are necessary to ensure an economically and socially sustainable wastepaper recovery system in Hong Kong.

This paper examines the nexus between behaviours, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and the behavioural changes induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Through an extensive review of 208 written sources spanning March 2020 to July 2021, the study analyses how the pandemic has affected the progress and relevance of the SDG targets in the city. Using UN-provided SDG indicators, the study evaluates the written accounts of behavioural change and establishes the linkages between them and the SDGs. Saaty's Analytical Hierarchy Process was applied to rank 75 SDG sub-targets according to their importance and urgency in Hong Kong's pandemic context. Notably, four SDGs stand out among the top 15: SDG3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG1 (No Poverty), and SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities), reflecting the significant challenges and opportunities for public health, the economy, vulnerable communities, and environmental sustainability in Hong Kong. The paper provides a comprehensive framework for developing post-pandemic strategies to address the city's SDG targets. It also offers valuable insights into health, consumption, social and environmental engagement, quality of life, and institutions and organisations for policymakers and stakeholders involved in Hong Kong's pandemic recovery and sustainable development efforts.

In the Special Administrative Region Hong Kong, municipal solid waste has grown substantially over the past two decades with plastic waste accounting for an increasingly large proportion. In response, the Hong Kong government trialled several schemes that centred on economic mechanisms and the circular economic principles of recycling and reduction to manage plastic bags and plastic beverage containers. As the results of these measures have been met with strong criticism, the present paper assesses the extent to which therein applied economic mechanisms realised a circular management of these streams. To explore this question, the paper relies on quantitative and qualitative field research combined with an analysis of a specifically designed public opinion survey. The findings indicate that price setting is a key element towards circularity for waste plastics in Hong Kong, yet it is not the sole determinant. Using an evolutionary institutional framework the paper shows that besides economics the incorporation of consumers' and recycling stakeholders' interests are key for effective regulations towards a circular economy on plastics in the city.

The mismanagement of waste is jeopardizing urban sustainability. Although polycentric waste governance (PWG) has been introduced, characterizing the PWG remains challenging. This paper employs game theory to illustrate polycentricity by investigating the equilibrium state from the stakeholders’ perspective. Shanghai, Tokyo, and Hong Kong are selected as target cities for comparative analysis. The findings reveal the heterogeneous characteristics in three megacities’ PWG—the collaboration by principal stakeholders (formal recyclers, informal recyclers, households) in Shanghai, the exclusion of informal recyclers in Tokyo, and the limited contribution provided by the formal recyclers in Hong Kong. The divergent PWG characteristics can be attributed to variations in governance patterns, socioeconomic factors, and policy formulation. Regarding urban sustainability, Tokyo and Shanghai’s PWG contribute to the circular economy’s expansion, while Hong Kong’ potential, in this regard, is undervalued. Despite Tokyo’s improved social recognition to practitioners, this PWG mode, primarily driven by formal recyclers and households, presents limited inclusion of low-income groups. Additionally, it is crucial for the authorities in Shanghai and Hong Kong to acknowledge the potential pollution of informal recyclers’ non-environmental behavior. This paper offers a valuable model for characterizing and analyzing PWG across different cities, facilitating knowledge aggregation and the implementation of PWG practice.

This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability behaviors in Hong Kong focusing on five domains of the Sustainable Development Goals: health, consumption, social environment, quality of life, and institutions. Through a survey and focus groups, we found that the pandemic led to significant changes in people's behaviors, including increased attention to personal hygiene and health practices, reduced consumption of non-essential goods, and greater appreciation for local nature. Furthermore, external factors, such as age and income, were found to shape people's behavioral changes. For instance, younger individuals were less likely to be concerned about their health and more likely to resort to online grocery shopping, while those with higher incomes were more likely to prioritize sustainability practices. Our findings offer valuable insights into the pandemic's impact on sustainability behaviors and present eighteen SDG-aligned policy recommendations for promoting sustainable practices in Hong Kong in the future.

The potential for carbon emissions avoidance through post-consumer recycling has been highlighted in the "Zero-Waste City" initiatives in China, which call for increasing household participation in the community recycling programs. A shift from a facility-oriented strategy to behavior-oriented norm building at the community level provides the local niches for emerging business models in post-consumer recycling. This paper proposes a framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior to simulate the impact on the participation rate of households in community-based recycling program in the context of different recycling business models in Beijing. Firstly, a questionnaire survey was conducted in 2021 in Beijing (N = 1153) to test the key factors which affect household recycling behavior. Secondly, an agent-based model for community-based recycling which was developed in 2016 has been updated to incorporate the institutional change in the development of zero-waste city initiatives. Scenario analysis is adopted to compare the effects of introducing two new business models to the baseline situation that is prevalent at present. The settings for the two new business models represent the diversified directions of the upgrading of urban recycling sector: one is to improve the intelligence of the collection facilities to save labors, and the other is to involve the informal recyclers to provide door-to-door collection services in person so as to save time for the residents. Additional scenario shows the effects of norm-based solutions in combination with the two strategies addressed above in the long run. The simulation results show that the potential for carbon emissions reduction through post-consumer recycling in Beijing can range from 1 million tons per year at the basic scenario to more than 4.5 million tons per year in the community level norm-based solution scenario. In conclusion, the proposal for sustaining the community-based new business models through the capture of value in the carbon emission reduction is put forward as a guideline for urban recycling infrastructure design.

This paper explores capacities, benefits and potential for a circular economy on waste plastic beverage containers in Hong Kong. Regarding existing circular capacities, we show that a pilot subsidy for selected recyclers achieved a plastic bottle recovery rate of 3 %. Its extension to all active recyclers would raise the recovery rate to 23 %. The analysis of circular benefits uses a dynamic life-cycle assessment along the Shared Socio-economic Pathways. It demonstrates that replacing single-use containers with reusable ones would achieve substantial impact reductions, e.g. 81 % for CO2 and 88 % for PM2.5 amongst others. When assessing potential for a circular transition in beverage container management, mapping stakeholder interests shows that the government's expressed preference for recycling is not shared by other groups. Rather, societal and corporate stakeholders' strong preference for refuse and reuse solutions underscores that higher-ranking circular approaches like a plastic tax or even a selective ban would enjoy public support.

The inclusion of the informal recycling sector (IRS) in a circular economy (CE) is challenging and it is gaining increasing attention by the academic community in an exponential yet fragmented way. In this narrative review, we demarcate the direct and indirect contributions of the IRS to various domains of the CE by drawing knowledge from relevant literature. First, we capture the modi operandi of different forms of recycling value chains into a typology. We do so based on distinct foci and policy approaches towards the IRS which have been adopted across different countries. Second, we synthesize various threads of information on reported forms of collaboration, tensions, and challenges in the context of urban waste management, into a conceptual framework to facilitate transitions towards circular and inclusive wise-waste systems. Finally, we discuss important aspects related to circular business models and integration approaches towards the IRS, and we propose avenues for further research.

Waste paper disposed in landfills notably contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and impedes more sustainable, circular alternatives, such as recycling. In Hong Kong, this unsustainable approach is currently dominant as 68% of waste paper products are treated in landfills in 2020. To contextualize the impact of local waste paper management and explore mitigation potentials of circular alternatives, this paper develops a quantitative assessment framework around GHG emissions development trajectories. Combining guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), national GHG inventories, and local parameters from life cycle analysis, five GHG emissions projections were simulated along the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) until 2060. Most recent baselines indicate that Hong Kong's current waste paper treatment generated 638,360 tons CO2-eq in 2020, comprising 1,821,040 tons CO2-eq from landfill and 671,320 tons CO2-eq from recycling, and -1,854,000 tons CO2-eq from primary material replacement. Proceeding along a Business-as-Usual scenario under SSP5, GHG emissions will dramatically increase to a net 1,072,270 tons CO2-eq by 2060, whereas a recycling-intensive scenario will lead to a net saving of -4,323,190 tons CO2-eq. To complement the quantitative evidence on the benefits of waste paper recycling, field research was conducted to explore the feasibility of circular policy innovation from the perspective of recycling stakeholders. These empirical qualitative and quantitative findings from stakeholders' business routines and material transactions provide crucial indications for policy and institutional innovation: Essentially, for Hong Kong to improve waste paper recycling capacities and facilitate a circular economy (CE), local stakeholders require support via fiscal policy measures (financial subsidies or tax reductions) and infrastructure improvements (delivery access and material storage). In sum, this study employs a novel analytical framework combining original qualitative and quantitative evidence to provide policy innovation towards circular, GHG emission-saving waste paper management.

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Later than other municipalities in the region, Hong Kong has embarked on the Circular Economy to address its sustainability challenges. While the government’s Circular Economy (CE) policy focus and support is exclusively centered on the waste recycling industry, a small but vibrant CE business segment has emerged over recent years. The present article deals with the question of how the young dynamic and the growth of this business field can be sustained into the future. By using an institutional evolutionary framework, the following paragraphs firstly analyze the divergence between official regulatory measures and CE business practices derived from a sample of 45 company cases. The resulting findings show that there is substantial room for formal institutional improvements, some of which are offered in form of a comprehensive set of general as well as tailormade recommendations.