Entropic Limits of Circular Economy

The world has become enchanted with the idea of the circular economy, as it is seen as a remedy to solve most ecological problems. Reintroduction processes, such as recycling or refurbishment, undoubtedly support the objectives of a circular economy but inevitably result in material waste or the production of undesirable byproducts. Initially, the circular economy descriptions completely ignored the relationship between natural and economic systems, which are the most important problem in ecological economics. The circular economy is criticized, inter alia, for not considering the physical limits of recycling. In each recycling cycle, some materials are lost or degraded (downcycling), which leads to an increase in entropy. When recycling on an industrial scale, increasingly more materials are scattered and lost with each cycle, leading to waste and emissions. The present paper aims to provide an overview of the approach used to evaluate such entropy increase by conducting a systematic literature review using the indexed databases of Web of Science and Scopus. The expected results show that the application of statistical entropy analysis to complex products is useful for minimizing waste production and making people aware that the zero-waste strategy is a utopia.