# An Exploration of Circular Economy Practices and Performance Among Romanian Producers
## 2 Literature Review on the Circular Economy
### The Macro-Economic Perspective of the Circular Economy  
Considering the complexity of the transition from a linear economy towards CE, the implementation of the above-mentioned principles and theories on a global scale has been heterogenous and insubstantial. Nevertheless, upon closer inspection, there are several positive experiences that can provide a useful macro-economic blueprint highlighting the factors that positively influence the adoption and implementation of the CE principles. The EU experience indicates that the adoption of the circular economy precepts requires an intelligent regulatory system entailing a well thought out master plan and the long-term commitment of all stakeholders such as the federal and local authorities, businesses, citizens and consumers, along with their respective knowledge and trust networks [5; 33; 34]. The objectives of the EU legislation regarding CE is to gradually require member states to upgrade their own legislation and converge towards a pan-European legal sphere [35]. Naturally, the legislation has to be complemented by implementation methods at the local level. Both a \"top-down\" and \"bottom-up\" approach is necessary to establish the creation of a network of support for key stakeholders by governments and responsible, intrinsic actions by these key actors at a microeconomic level [17; 36; 37]. Applying the precepts of the CE to the massive and dynamic economy of China is an altogether different topic. Currently, China is the world's largest CO\({}_{2}\) emitter and the largest steel producer among many other traditional goods. In the last four decades, many of the West's \"dirty industries\" migrated to China, attracted primarily by low wages but also by relaxed and non-enforced environmental policies. Unsurprisingly, China has a special place in the circular economy literature, with substantial attention and investment in both theory and practical application [38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43]. Considering the gravity of the situation and the characteristics of the Chinese economy, the principles of CE are implemented primarily through a \"top-down\" government mandatory approach, in stark contrast to the EU, the United States, Japan and other countries who are designing environmental and waste management policies utilizing a \"bottom-up\" approach [20]. The city of Dalian, a thriving Chinese manufacturing hub, is a case of a successful implementation of CE with Chinese characteristics, since it was able to conserve energy and water resources while reducing industrial emissions [44]. Other cases of Chinese success described in the literature, underscore that although the Chinese national strategy emphasizes the need to transition to CE, the implementation is still in its early stages. The preliminary conclusions from the Chinese experience is that although each sector has its particularities and preferences, an integrated, interdisciplinary macro-approach is required for the gradual improvement and transition towards CE with supply chains and industrial networks as the key to \"closing the loop\" [44; 45; 39; 46]. Industry-specific research stresses the fact that significant improvement has only been achieved in a relatively small number of sectors such as the information technology and electronic [47; 48; 49; 50], chemical and food [51], materials [52] and restaurants [53]. Moreover, the results achieved within the same sector highlight key success factors that tend to be heterogeneous, as is the case of \"smart-water management\". In the case of Taihu Lake in China, components of integrated environmental management that target institutional cooperation, public participation and the internalization of environmental externalities were identified as success factors [54], while in the case of Athens, Greece, the solution seems to come as a result of the functional integration of a packaging treatment unit and an infrastructure for information and communication technology [55].