Policies and Strategic Incentives for Circular Economy and Industrial Symbiosis in Portugal: A Future Perspective

Abstract

During the last two decades, Portugal has made efforts to implement a circular economy and its business models in industries, which has led to a series of operational and strategic initiatives. Nevertheless, after 20 years, further efforts are required for a larger-scale implementation of such models. This study aims to identify the current status in the legislative context of the industrial circular economy and industrial symbiosis (ICE&IS) in Portugal, with a special focus on the policies and incentives for the promotion of this model. The main objective of this research is to verify whether there are conditions for the promotion of ICE&IS, and the main aspects to reinforce the current Portuguese strategy. To achieve this objective, a mixed research approach was defined and performed. This approach is based on methods of gathering information and analyzing the results through a comparative policy analysis. The result of this study shows that Portugal still has a considerable number of gaps and needs (strategic, fiscal, and financial) that must be addressed for effective implementation. Our research suggests that Portugal will face a series of critical aspects for industrial CE implementation, namely, promoting effective incentives (i), simplifying the national strategy (ii), and dealing with bureaucracy (iii).