**7.3 The concepts of circular economy with related main keywords**

A keyword search on the circular economy was conducted through 15,098 documents retrieved by the string TITLE-ABS-KEY (circular AND economy). The Scopus database was used to collect the large number of keywords. A random selection of 2000 words was made from nearly 9606 documents generated by the search TITLE-ABS-KEY (circular AND economy) AND (LIMIT-TO (DOCTYPE, "ar")). On this basis, and with the assistance of VOSviewer, the keyword map depicted above was generated. The top keywords include circular economy sustainability, sustainable development, recycling, waste management, industry 4.0, resource efficiency, waste, and business model (**Figure 5** and **Table 1**).

The analysis shows what concepts are most widely used by publications in which years (**Figure 5**). The major concepts used in association with the concept of circular economy in 2019 include circular economy, sustainability, sustainable development, recycling, waste management, industry 4.0, resource efficiency, waste, business model, linear economy, and environment. Moreover, concepts such as industry 4.0, Covid-19, digital twin, posthumanism, food supply chain, circular cities, and goals were used in association with the concept of circular economy. It is important in that it shows the new concepts that are increasingly used in association with circular economy are the topics of scientific research.

*An Evaluation of the Transition from Linear Economy to Circular Economy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107980*

**Figure 5.**

*Mapping the circular economy with main keywords based on Scopus data.*

**Figure 6** shows the frequency of use of the keywords when circular economy is selected as the main concept. Accordingly, the top six concepts that are most used with circular economy are sustainability, sustainable development, recycling, waste management, industry 4.0, and resource efficiency In addition, other related keywords that are used with it, including in the studies discussing linear economy, are also given. The period in which other keywords are used with circular economy is again 2015–2021. What we see here is that the top five keywords that are most used with circular economy are in the period 2018–2021. The keywords that are often used with circular economy as of 2020 include resource efficiency, business models, reverse logistics, industrial symbiosis, and zero waste. It is important in that it provides information about the topics of new research.

### **7.4 The concept of green economy with related main keywords**

A total of 8191 documents were listed by the search TITLE-ABS-KEY (green AND deal) on Scopus database. By searching only articles, 5036 articles were listed. VOSview helps to generate the network of keywords. The most used keywords are in **Figure 5** below. The period from 2016 to 2018 seems to be the one where the keyword "green deal" was most used. To date, it is the most used keyword given its size through the node. The network represents this period in green color for nodes (**Figure 7**).

With regard to what concepts are most used in which years (**Figure 5**), the analysis shows that the keywords that are most used with the concept of green economy in 2014–2015 include low-carbon economy, green chemistry, green supply chain, green building, green economics, atom economy, well-being, and Rio + 20. Among the other major concepts used in conjunction with the concept of green deal in the period 2016–2018 are keywords such as green economy, sustainable development, circular economy, sustainability, green growth, climate change, renewable energy,

**Figure 6.** *Annual occurrence of relevant keywords.*

**Figure 7.** *Green deal-related keywords' network.*

environment, green jobs, and China. Moreover, concepts such as green economic efficiency, pollution, Russia, Croatia, ports, lifelong learning, spatial econometric model, regional cluster, and green reagents have been widely used in the 2020s. It is important in that it shows the number of studies involving new concepts related to the concept of green deal and their frequency of use has increased.

### **8. From linear economy to circular approaches**

Rising demand for food on a global scale remains to be a challenge due to the increase in world population. However, factors such as global climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic as an extreme threat have led to a strong perception of the importance of agricultural production by all societies. It is understood that the demand for agricultural products that are healthy, high in nutritional quality and produced in an environment-friendly manner will increase gradually.

Today, development policies at the international level are focused on sustainability. They are usually aimed at establishing the conditions that will ensure the sustainable use of resources and the sustainability of human life in the future. Efforts are underway to end poverty and improve and expand fundamental rights and freedoms by reducing welfare differences between countries and between segments of societies, especially through the adoption of a sustainability approach on a global scale [24].

### **9. Evaluation of the top keywords according to the topics**

The results of the conceptual analysis are given in **Table 1**. Accordingly, the four concepts that are addressed here are closely associated with sustainability. All of the keywords related to sustainability are accompanied by the concept of sustainability. The analyses carried out concerning the concepts of sustainability and rural development, circular economy, and green deal involve the concept of sustainability twice for each of them. It is important in that it shows the concept of sustainability continues to be used in conjunction with emerging concepts. It suggests that although new concepts are derived and new approaches are put forth, the concept of sustainability maintains its place in the literature.

While the 'take-make-dispose' model suggested by the classical economics (i.e., linear economy) has dominated all economies for the last two centuries, the sustainability approach has always existed despite the fact that it does not fit well with the assumptions of classical economics and its level of effectiveness is low.

Accordingly, the linear "take-make-dispose" model relies on large quantities of easily accessible resources and energy, and as such is increasingly unfit for the reality in which it operates. Working towards efficiency alone—a reduction of resources and fossil energy consumed per unit of manufacturing output—will not alter the finite nature of their stocks but can only delay the inevitable [25]. As is known, circular economy, as opposed to the current linear economy, can be seen as a sustainable economic system where economic growth is decoupled from resources use, through the reduction and recirculation of natural resources. The circular economy concept attracts increasing attention of governments, scholars, companies, and citizens as a necessary step to achieve sustainable development [26]. Again according to The Ellen MacArthur Foundation [25], the circular economy draws a sharp distinction between the consumption and use of materials: circular economy advocates the need for a

"functional service" model in which manufacturers or retailers increasingly retain the ownership of their products and, where possible, act as service providers—selling the use of products, not their one-way consumption. This shift has direct implications for the development of efficient and effective take-back systems and the proliferation of product and business model design practices that generate more durable products, facilitate disassembly and refurbishment, and where appropriate, consider product/ service shifts. As circular economy thinker Walter Stahel explains, "The linear model turned services into products that can be sold, but this throughput approach is a wasteful one. In the past, reuse and service-life extension were often strategies in situations of scarcity or poverty and led to products of inferior quality. Today, they are signs of good resource husbandry and smart management." As a result, circular economy is also an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. It replaces the "end-of-life" concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, which impair reuse, and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems and, to develop within this, business models.

Again, considering the European Green Deal (EGD), it is clear that at the heart of the main components of the Deal is the aim of transforming the EU economy for a sustainable future. In line with this, the EGD is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within a certain program in order to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050. In order to reduce carbon leakage from the EU, efforts are underway to develop a new system built with new taxes and non-tariff barriers in trade through the border carbon adjustment (BCA) mechanism. Again, by 2030, the EU aims to transform 25% of the agricultural lands in its territories into organic farming land. Organic production in the fresh fruit and vegetable industry and dried and frozen products industry is expected to increase in the coming years. In addition, organic products will be in demand in other agricultural product markets such as medicinal and aromatic plants and mushrooms, so plans are being made to ensure product safety. Another important aspect of the European Green Deal is that it gives priority to energy saving and renewable energy sources. In general, renewable energy sources such as solar energy are supported. The Green Deal also aims to increase the amount of fruit and vegetable consumption in human nutrition by regulating the consumption habits of consumers and combating obesity and diseases such as cancer, thereby eliminating the serious economic burden on the healthcare system [27].

Reaching and indeed exceeding national or EU GHG reduction targets, such as those proposed by the EU Green Deal, is not an easy task. However, many municipalities across Europe are aware of their crucial role and are developing strategies toward carbon neutrality by 2050. The experience of those cities that have already joined the CoM 2030 initiative with ambitious GHG reduction targets could serve as an example for others [28].

The EU countries have taken the lead in the transition to a sustainable food system, and this process will affect many countries. The technical and financial support of the EU instruments such as harmonization funds and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development will facilitate this transition.

### **10. Conclusions**

While the journey that started with linear economy still continues, challenges related to resource utilization efficiency, misuse of natural resources, limitedness of

## *An Evaluation of the Transition from Linear Economy to Circular Economy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107980*

production factors as well as threats such as climate change have given rise to discussions around new models as an alternative to linear economy. In particular, circular economy is addressed frequently. Circular economy is a concept that stems from the need to address environmental degradation, social unrest and inequalities, institutional instability, resource scarcity, and economic challenges caused by the linear nature-society-nature systems that the large portion of society operates on [18]. The acceptance of circular economy on a global scale will probably be among the major topics of discussion in the medium term, as there is need for novel technologies such as renewable energy generation technologies.

In this framework, this paper deals with the conceptual developments in academic studies in a bibliometric fashion. It shows that the concepts have both varied and increased. The use of the concepts of sustainability, green economy and circular economy in academic studies has been more widespread. Therefore, it is seen that the process of transition from linear economy to circular economy is supported by academic studies, which derive new concepts that are addressed as further research topics by new studies. In conclusion, it can be said that the process of change in this field will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. With the global cooperation efforts that are being carried out and expansion of practices focusing on sustainability, academic studies will play a key role in, and accelerate, the transformation in question.
