Short biography

Benjamin obtained his Masters in Chinese Studies (2010), Political Economy of East Asia (2015) and a PhD in Chinese Studies (2018), on subject of China’s Circular Economy, from the University of Vienna, Austria. 
Between 2012-2017, he was as research assistant with the Institute of Waste Management and Circularity at BOKU University, Vienna, Austria. During this engagement,  he assisted in EU-funded research projects (e-waste, ship recycling, fluorescent lamps) and co-developed projects (household waste, informal recycling sector) on China’s waste management and circular economy.
Since his employment as assistant professor in Hong Kong (2019), Benjamin has been extensively working on circular business models around single-use plastics and consumer electronics, informal repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling networks as well as on the effectiveness of circular economic policies.
Besides his academic engagement, Benjamin has been providing research consultancies for the German development agency GIZ, IFP Energies Nouvelles, the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Hong Kong and the NPO Drink Without Waste Hong Kong.

Research areas

Circular economy
Informal recycling
Circular business models
Post-consumer waste streams
System transition & social tipping points

Publications

He has published over 35 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters covering circularity, informality and regulatory related aspects with a specific regional focus on mainland China and Hong Kong SAR