Beyond End-of-Life: A Decade of Circular Economy Policy Literature and the Need for Upstream Interventions - Supplementary Data

This dataset was derived from a scoping review of academic journal papers conducted on circular economy policy literature from 2013 to 2023 using the PRISMA framework and focuses on policy interventions across the product life cycle stages – Product Design and Manufacturing; Consumption; and Recovery. Regulatory policies were most common across all product life cycle stages, with few policy types recurring prominently: eco-design policies (product design and manufacturing stage), green procurement, bans, and ecolabelling (consumption stage), and recycling, extended producer responsibility, and reuse and repair policies (recovery stage). Fiscal tools, such as taxes, fees and levies, were more widely discussed than subsidies, while information campaigns were notably underrepresented. Overall, the findings reveal a strong academic focus on end-of-life interventions, and it underscores the need to expand attention to upstream circular economy policy interventions that address earlier life cycle stages, in order to realize more comprehensive and sustainable resource management.