Our Work

Below is a small selection of the work that we’ve carried out. Click on a topic to see relevant projects.

Environmental potential of the collaborative economy

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Collaborative platforms, such as Airbnb, Blablacar and Peerby, have changed the ways in which goods and services are offered and consumed in the economy.  Through such platforms owners can rent out something they are not using, such as a car, house or bicycle to a consumer. B...

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Green Growth versus Degrowth: lessons from our modelling

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Is it really possible to keep on consuming more and more, while still respecting societal and environmental boundaries?     Will the future be one of green growth (the economy grows while resource use falls) or degrowth (economic growth is constrained in order to reduce en...

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Jobs: winners and losers in the circular economy transition

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Here our Principal Economic Modeller, Unnada Chewpreecha, explores why many studies overestimate the positive job impacts of the transition. The complex interaction between sectors and regions and between different economic, environmental, material, energy and labour market in...

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Identifying regional circular economy opportunities: Zero Waste Scotland

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This project for Zero Waste Scotland, led by Ricardo Energy & Environment, identified opportunities for circular economy initiatives within two economies: Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross. It then went on to provide an initial estimatio...

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Plastics in a circular economy

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Are bioplastics the best solution for sustainable packaging in a circular economy? Is biodegradable or bio-based material 'greener' than multiple use plastics? Conflicts with food production and an increase in the use of fertilisers and pesticides are not the only concern, ana...

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Impacts of circular economy policies on the labour market

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The aim of this project for the European Commission's DG Environment is to develop an understanding of how a transition towards a more circular and resource efficient economy in Europe will affect labour markets across the Member States. Circular Economy report The study is...

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Modelling the impacts of changes in raw material consumption

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This study aimed to provide a quantitative analysis of different EU resource productivity targets, defined as GDP per unit of raw material consumption (RMC).

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