Lately, the idea of ‘non-toxic’ (or ‘clean’) material cycles has become increasingly popular as a starting point for the consideration of circular economy strategies among leading regulating actors, such as the European Commission (2017). However, it should be apparent that, by default, circular economy aspirations awaken a potential policy conflict between increased circulation of resources and reduction of exposure to hazardous substances (human- and eco-toxic substances of concern). Here, we build upon the great tradition of Waste Management & Research editorials on the topic debated, and not least on the recent opinion piece by Stanisavljevic and Brunner (2019). We argue that non-toxic material cycles are indeed a desirable vision, but that they will not come naturally in a world of circulated material resources – at least not without major supply chain disruptions and persistent conscious efforts. Let us elaborate.

中文翻译：

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迈向清洁材料循环：循环经济与无毒环境之间是否存在政策冲突？

近来，``无毒''（或``清洁''）物质循环的想法已越来越流行，作为在主要监管参与者中考虑循环经济战略的起点，例如欧盟委员会（2017）。但是，很明显，默认情况下，循环经济的愿望会引起资源循环增加和减少接触有害物质（关注的人类和生态毒性物质）之间潜在的政策冲突。在这里，我们以废物管理与研究的悠久传统为基础有关该话题的社论，尤其是Stanisavljevic和Brunner（2019）的最新观点。我们认为无毒的材料循环确实是理想的构想，但是在循环的材料资源世界中，它们自然不会出现-至少在没有重大供应链中断和持续有意识的努力的情况下。让我们详细说明。