https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147173 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 23:36:54 GMT 2026-07-01T23:36:54Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147477 Title: A critical analysis of the critiques surrounding the sustainability of circular economy : an authenticity assessment of circular economy practices in the plastic industry in Ghana Abstract: The circular economy (CE) has gained prominence as a strategy to reduce waste and decouple economic growth from resource depletion. However, the practical implementation of circular business models (CBMs) in developing-country contexts remains poorly understood. This study evaluates the adoption, challenges, and sustainability outcomes of CE practices in Ghana’s plastic sector, through a mixed-methods design involving surveys and semi-structured interviews with manufacturers, packaging companies, recyclers, diversified firms, and informal actors. The findings reveal a sector engaged in early, reformist circularity, active yet constrained, pragmatic yet fragmented. The research indicates that CE understanding is often limited to recycling, with minimal attention to upstream strategies such as redesign, reuse, and product life extension. Business type and size significantly shape CE adoption patterns: packaging firms exhibit the lowest uptake of recycled content, manufacturers remain dependent on virgin materials due to strict quality requirements, while medium-to-large firms demonstrate the most balanced and dynamic engagement through industrial symbiosis and structured waste systems. SMEs and cottage industries practice grassroots circularity driven by necessity rather than strategy. Across all groups, contextual barriers including weak enforcement, high technology costs, dependence on fossil energy, and inadequate infrastructure limit environmental and social outcomes. Social sustainability remains inconsistently integrated, with informal waste workers facing persistent inequities despite their central role in material recovery. To synthesise these dynamics, the study proposes an emergent conceptual framework positioning business characteristics (type and size) as key determinants of environmental and social CE outcomes, moderated by regulatory, market, and technological conditions termed as contextual factors. The analysis recommends corporate strategies for implementing circularity are tailored to firm size and business model. It further positions Ghana's CE landscape as a mirror of worldwide CE critiques, ambitious in theory but limited in practice while emphasizing the importance of livelihood, equality, and adaptive rationality in building sustainable transitions in developing countries. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147477 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147398 Title: Understanding the travel behaviour, and attitudes towards sustainable mobility amongst migrant commuters in Malta Abstract: With ongoing challenges related to global warming, sustainable urban mobility remains a critical issue. Unsustainable travel behaviour is shaped not only by infrastructure and policy but also by societal attitudes, norms, and cultural influences, which are further diversified by international migration. In Malta, a highly dense and car-dependent island, the growing migrant population adds new layers of complexity to urban mobility, yet this group has been largely overlooked in existing research. This study addresses this gap by investigating the travel behaviour and attitudes towards sustainable mobility of international migrant commuters in Malta. The research adopts a mixed-methods, exploratory sequential case study design, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches for both in-depth and generalisable insights. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews and activity diaries with 12 migrant commuters and 12 Maltese participants as a control group, followed by a quantitative survey of 331 migrant commuters. Secondary data, including census and policy documents, complement the primary data. Findings reveal that buses are the dominant transport mode among migrants (61%), while car ownership remains relatively low (23%). Mode choice is influenced mainly by practical factors such as cost, convenience, and traffic congestion, rather than environmental motivations. Migrant mobility is dynamic and adaptive, shaped by nationality, age, prior mobility experiences, and length of residence in Malta. Some migrants gradually assimilate into the island’s car-oriented system, whereas others maintain flexible, multimodal, and relatively sustainable practices. A “honeymoon period” in early settlement emerges as a key phase for policy intervention. Despite moderate awareness of sustainable mobility, everyday travel is comparatively sustainable, reflecting pragmatic adaptation. The study highlights opportunities to strengthen public transport, promote long-term sustainable mobility, and ensure migrant commuters’ voices inform urban mobility policies. Recommendations aim to encourage continued use of sustainable transport and prevent latestage car ownership, contributing to a fairer, more inclusive transport system that supports social integration and wellbeing. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147398 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z