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Borislav Emilov Boyanov
EUROPEAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY – CURRENT STATE AND CHALLENGES
Summary:
The European chemical industry is one of the major and most important industrial sectors of the Community economy. The present paper aims to present an analysis of its current state and, on this basis, to highlight the main challenges it must address in the coming years. The presentation of the main characteristics of the chemical industry on a global scale, which gives a clearer idea of the state of the industry as a whole also plays an important role in the study. The following main conclusions are drawn from the analysis made. First, an increase in the share of chemical substances and products in the EU’s total exports and imports, which determines the growing importance of the sector to the European Union. Second, the European chemical industry is still lagging behind China on a global scale due to a variety of reasons, including the country’s industrial policy and sector reforms. Third, in the future, the industry will have to cope with a number of challenges in areas such as the environment, international competitiveness, sustainable development and the circular economy.
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Rosen Kolev
INDUSTRY 4.0 AND KAIZEN COSTING 4.0 – OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS TOWARDS CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Summary:
The importance of management accounting and cost management systems for industrial enterprises is constantly growing. In the conditions of the fourth industrial revolution, management systems of economic agents need to adapt to the new economic environment. This article is an attempt to present the influence of Industry 4.0 on a specific cost management system - Kaizen costing. Additionally, it presents the possibilities for the application of Industry 4.0 and Kaizen costing in the circular economy, which has become the main economic perspective for the EU countries.
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Shteryo Nozharov
TRANSACTION COSTS IN COLLECTIVE WASTE RECOVERY SYSTEMS IN THE EU
Summary:
The study aims to identify the institutional flaws of the current EU waste management model by analysing the economic model of ‘extended producer responsibility’ and collective waste management systems and to create a model for measuring the transaction costs borne by waste recovery organizations. The model was approbated by analysing the Bulgarian collective waste management systems that have been complying with the EU legislation for the last 10 years. The analysis focuses on waste oils because of their economic importance and the limited number of studies and analyses in this field as the predominant body of research to date has mainly addressed packaging waste, mixed household waste or discarded electrical and electronic equipment. The study aims to support the process of establishing a ‘circular economy’ in the EU, which was initiated in 2015.
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Nikolay Todorov
THE JAPANESE MODEL OF TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Summary:
The article focuses on the most important stages of enforcement and implementation of the principles of circular economy in Japan in terms of the reasons for and the consequences from the emergence and development of the circular resource-saving model in the country. It discusses the transition to an environment-friendly economic model, its importance for people’s health and relevance to the needs of the modern society. The systematic role of Japan’s regulatory framework is considered in terms of the implementation of a cyclical environment-friendly economic model and policies intended to strengthen public-private partnerships and promote the circular economy among a wide range of stakeholders. It also discusses the application of the ISO14001 international standard in Japan and presents several indicative circular business models successfully implemented in Japanese companies.
