@phdthesis{Rabiu2024, author = {Rabiu, Mubarik Kassim}, title = {Consumer practices in a circular society : exploring the relevance of everyday practices in the transition to a circular economy}, doi = {10.26127/BTUOpen-6901}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-69017}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2024}, abstract = {In the face of increasing environmental challenges — from climate change to resource depletion and biodiversity loss — the role of consumers in shaping a sustainable future is becoming ever more critical. This is particularly true for far-reaching strategies of structural change, such as the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Current research on the role of consumers in the context of the circular economy highlights both opportunities and challenges in promoting circular consumption. However, moving away from linear take-use-waste practices and integrating circular forms of consumption - such as reduce, reuse and repair - into consumers' everyday social practices remains a challenge. This dissertation explores the intricate relationship between routine and change, between individual agency in adopting circular practices and the limits and opportunities of socio-material structures to support this process, focusing on single-use plastic consumption. It comprises three articles, each pursuing different but interrelated research objectives. Chapter 1 describes the background and motivation for researching everyday social practices in the transition to a circular economy, provides an overview of the relevant literature and sets out the research objectives and methods. Chapter 2 presents a systematic review of the existing literature and develops a conceptual framework for analysing the appropriation of circular consumer practices in the context of everyday life. This framework also enables an analysis of the potential trade-offs and rebound effects of appropriating circular practices. Chapter 3 demonstrates the relevance of the framework developed in Chapter 2 by applying it to reducing single-use plastic in everyday life. Based on living lab experiments, the empirical analysis shows that single-use plastic consumption is deeply ingrained in everyday routines and presents significant barriers to reduction, even among consumers committed to sustainability. The study presented in Chapter 3 identifies packaging-free supermarkets as a promising alternative to single-use plastic products. However, it also highlights the barriers to widespread adoption, such as limited accessibility and insufficient product variety. Building on these findings, Chapter 4 examines the key drivers influencing the integration of packaging-free supermarkets into everyday life. It outlines three future scenarios: technology-driven convenience, community-orientated sustainability and resource scarcity. These scenarios illustrate how technological advances, increased community engagement and the pressure of limited resources may influence the future of circular consumption, particularly in the context of packaging-free supermarkets. Chapter 5 summarises the overall contributions, highlights the strengths and limitations of the methods and recommendations and discusses the significance of the findings for advancing the transition to a circular economy.}, subject = {Packaging-free supermarkets; Verpackungsfreie Superm{\"a}rkte; Circular economy; Circular consumer practices; Everyday social practices; Kreislaufwirtschaft; Zirkul{\"a}re Konsumentenpraktiken; Allt{\"a}gliche soziale Praktiken; Einwegplastik; Single-use plastic; Alltag; Soziales Handeln; Kreislaufwirtschaft; Kunststoffverpackung; Reallabor; Szenario}, language = {en} }