Identification and assessment of opportunities and threats for the Circular Economy arising from E-commerce

The present study identifies, describes and assesses in detail opportunities and threats for the Circular Economy arising from E-commerce. A broad literature research and direct stakeholder input led to the identification of 18 opportunities and 23 threats for the Circular Economy, allocated to 7 different clusters. Most of the identified threats refer to “Logistics and transport”, while opportunities refer mainly to the topics “Accessibility of information” and “Digitalisation”. By means of a comparative assessment in the current situation and future optimistic and pessimistic potential developments, the direct and indirect effects of the opportunities and threats have been evaluated, with specific focus on 7 selected product categories. In total, 11 opportunities and 16 threats have been assessed as either medium or highly relevant. The assessment revealed that most of the threats classified as highly relevant belong to the cluster “Logistics and transport”, including induced parcel transport, parcel return and inefficient transport, while most of the highly relevant opportunities are to be found in the cluster “Accessibility of information”, as in the case of second-hand commerce or product portfolio.
JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership