Creative Destruction and Circular Economy: The Concourse and the Attitude of PhD Scholars

Abstract

The circular economy strategy is closely linked to the EU's efforts to achieve a radical reduction in the amount of waste going to landfills. It is wrong to think, that packaging waste should be used within the packaging industry, as many have suggested in the strict sense of producer responsibility. Schumpeter saw creative destruction as one of the preconditions for development. The circular economy should be offensive. The economy must be transformed from a stock economy to a flow economy to achieve significant improvements in productivity and material efficiency. The public discourse on the state of the environment is very diverse. I would like to show, through a short empirical study with the help of Q methodology, how PhD students have very different views on issues related to sustainable development and the circular economy.