From waste to market: Exploring markets, institutions, and innovation ecosystems for waste valorization
研究了废物价值化创新如何与现有废物管理系统互动，以及市场在其中的作用，发现市场单独不足以推动创新，公共部门支持对循环经济转型至关重要。
Abstract This article explores the emergence of waste valorization innovations to investigate how they interact with incumbent waste management systems and what roles markets play in the process. We build upon innovation ecosystems as an analytical framework and investigate empirically three cases distributed across the waste hierarchy pyramid: (i) upcycling of discarded fishing gear; (ii) reusing constructions and recovering demolition waste; and (iii) establishing a biomass‐based district heating facility. Our cases indicate that waste valorization initiatives are deeply entangled in incumbent waste management systems and that markets alone appear to be insufficient to drive innovations in waste valorization. Our analysis also points to a relationship between the position of waste innovation in the waste hierarchy and the presence and effectiveness of markets. Markets function better when resources already have some economic value, which is what waste valorization processes seek to obtain. When the environmental value is higher than the economic value, other mechanisms are needed to enable innovations, markets, and sustainability transitions. Support from the public sector in various capacities, from international regulation to demand shaping, seems to be essential for circular economy transitions. Understanding issues such as how waste innovations reach the market and how markets for waste resources function is imperative for circular economy transitions.