Reluctance Toward Complex Market Modelling and Simulation in The French Extractive and/or Recycling Sector: A Sociological Perspective on Agent-Based Approach

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Abstract

In France, the extractive and recycling (ExtRec) sector plays a critical role in resource recovery and circular economy transitions; and representing complexity in the modelling and simulation of material and waste flows would allow the sector to better capture the effects of various stakeholders’ decisions on waste management. However, the sector remains reluctant to adopt complexity, particularly agent-based modelling and simulation (ABM&S) whereas the approach is now developing elsewhere (in other sectors, other countries). Our sociological question is then: how such a reluctance could exist in this sector? Using a qualitative method, this study identified 5 reasons for this reluctance including limited knowledge of ABM&S, entrenched reliance on classical practices (MFA, LCA …), and workplace and institutional influences. This research then shows that reluctance toward ABM&S in the French ExtRec sector is not simply a technical gap but a socially and institutionally embedded phenomenon. Addressing this reluctance requires both technical innovations (coupling, data frameworks) and sociological strategies (participatory approaches, institutional practice reform). Nevertheless, the sector expressed conditions under which ABM&S could gain acceptance; furthermore, we provide recommendations that would remove adoption barriers. More globally, this paper contributes to debates on modelling approaches for waste policy and circular economy strategies.