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Transitioning towards a circular manufacturing industry (ENG)

The manufacturing industry is one of the sectors on which the Dutch policy development regarding circular economy is focussing. In order to obtain more insight in the functioning of the sectors innovation system in its transition towards more circularity, the concept of Mission-oriented Innovation Systems (MIS) was used as the basis for an evaluation framework. The assessment led to the observation that the creation of directionality, creation of legitimacy and coordination of activities are the largest barriers that need to be overcome in order to achieve the mission of creating a more circular economy. Furthermore, it became clear that many innovations that may be qualified as circular were the unintended outcomes of innovations of a different nature: serendipity plays an important role here, besides the disruptive consequences of digitization.