Table of Contents Abstract vii
Résumé ix
Acknowledgments xi Preface xii
Scientific Impacts xiv Table of Contents xvi List of Tables xx
List of Figures xxi
List of Appendices xxiii Acronyms xxiv
Terminology xxv
Chapter I. Introduction 27 I.1. General background 27
I.1.1. Circular economy and waste management 27
I.1.2. Methods for assessing circular economy strategies 29 I.2. Circular economy: policies and strategies 32
I.2.1. The global level 32
I.2.2. The European Union 32
I.2.3. The Federal or national level 33
I.2.4. The regional or subnational level 36
I.2.5. Analysis of the Federal and regional policy contexts in Belgium 40 I.3. Goal and scope of the thesis 42
I.3.1. General and specific objectives 42 I.3.2. Justification of the scope 43
I.3.3. Justification of the methodological research approach 44 I.3.4. Research questions 47
I.4. Structure of the thesis 50
Chapter II. Input-Output Models, Circular Economy and Waste Management: A Critical Review 51
II.1. Introduction 52
II.2. Description of models 53
II.2.1. The conventional input-output model with waste extension (WEIO) 53 II.2.2. The waste input-output (WIO) model 54
II.2.3. The physical input-output (PIO) model 54 II.2.4. The hybrid input-output (HIO) model 55 II.3. Materials and methods 57
II.3.1. Bibliometric analysis 57
II.3.2. Methodological analysis 57 II.4. Results and discussion 58
II.4.1. Bibliometric analysis 58
II.4.2. Analysis of characteristics of the input-output models for waste analyses 60 II.4.3. Analysis of the functionalities of the input-output models for waste analyses 67 II.5. Further discussion and outlook 77
II.6. Conclusion 79
Chapter III. Development of the Multiregional Hybrid Input-Output Tables at the Belgian Subnational Level 81
III.1. Introduction 82
III.2. Method and data 83 III.2.1. The model framework 83 III.2.2. Data description 86
III.2.3. Initial estimation of subnational hybrid SUTs 87
III.2.4. Estimation of the subnational environmental extensions on the use side 89 III.2.5. Reconciling the different estimations 90
III.2.6. Subnational environmental extensions on the supply side 92
III.2.7. Integrating subnational Belgian tables in the multiregional framework 94 III.2.8. Estimates evaluation – method 94
III.2.9. Constructing multiregional input-output tables 95 III.3. Results 96
III.3.1. Estimates evaluation – results 96
III.3.2. Consumption-based analysis at subnational level 97 III.4. Discussion and conclusions 102
III.4.1. Why MRHIOT at the subnational level are important? 102 III.4.2. Data and method implications 102
III.5. Conclusion 104
Chapter IV. The Waste Footprint of Belgian Regions 106 IV.1. Introduction 107
IV.2. Data and methods 109 IV.2.1. The waste accounts 109
IV.2.2. Waste footprints and associated waste treatments calculation 110 IV.3. Results 113
IV.3.1. Waste footprints and stock depletion analysis 113
IV.3.2. Waste type contribution analysis to waste footprint 114 IV.3.3. Product contribution analysis to waste footprint 116 IV.3.4. Country contribution to indirect waste generation 117
IV.3.5. Waste treatments of waste footprints and stock depletion 120 IV.4. Discussion and conclusions 121
IV.4.1. Implications of regional waste data monitoring 121
IV.4.2. Implications of regional waste management and CE policies 122 Chapter V. The Degree of Circularity of Belgian Regions 124
V.1. Introduction 125
V.2. Method and data 126 V.2.1. System definition 127
V.2.2. Trade-corrected circularity calculation 128
V.2.3. The multiregional physical input-output tables at the Belgian subnational level 130 V.3. Results 131
V.3.1. Material flows of Belgian regions 131
V.3.2. Circularity embodied in the trade of waste for treatment 136
V.3.3. Contribution analysis of each region in the degree of circularity of other regions 137 V.4. Discussion and conclusions 139
V.4.1. Methodological and conceptual findings 139
V.4.2. Waste management and circular economy policy implications 139
V.4.3. Measuring the degree of circularity of regions: which circularity? 140
Chapter VI. Circular Economy Scenario Modelling and Analysis for Belgium and its Regions:
Testing the hybrid model 142 VI.1. Introduction 143
VI.2. Data and methods 144
VI.2.1. Environmental input-output analysis 145
VI.2.2. Modelling the impacts of implementing CE scenarios 145
VI.2.3. CE strategies and interventions settings in the MRHIOTs at the subnational level 147 VI.3. Results 151
VI.3.1. Impacts of CE interventions at the global and national levels 151 VI.3.2. Impacts of CE interventions at the subnational level 155
VI.4. Discussion and conclusions 158 VI.4.1. Comparison with other studies 158
VI.4.2. Methodological and conceptual findings 159
Chapter VII. Conclusions, Policy Implications, Critics and Outlook 162 VII.1. Contributions and added value of this thesis 162
VII.2. Main conclusions 163
VII.2.1. Hybrid supply and use tables: a toolbox for monitoring CE 164 VII.2.2. Toward a more region-specific definition of the circularity 165 VII.2.3. The ‘multiregional face’ of CE 166
VII.2.4. Regional variations of environmental footprints 167
VII.3. Waste management and circular economy policy implications 168 VII.4. Critics and outlook 169
VII.4.1. General critics to the work 169 VII.4.2. Critics to the developed model 171
VII.4.3. Critics to monitoring circular economy 176 VII.4.4. Critics to the analytical approach 178 References 183
Appendices 197
