What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2021 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11128 |
Resumo: | The circular economy (CE) concept has become a major interest for companies, promising new business opportunities and a decrease in environmental impacts. Though research on circular business models has recently increased, few scholars have investigated how companies engaged with CE view the connection between CE and sustainability. To address this gap, this paper uses a semi-quantitative survey and semistructured interviews conducted with companies based in Italy and the Netherlands. Purposive sampling was employed to target firms associated with national and international CE networks, as these companies already engage with CE practices. The survey was distributed online to over 800 firms, of which 155 provided information on their understanding of the CE concept and its relationship with sustainability. The survey results are complemented through findings from 43 interviews with a subset of the survey respondents. The survey answers show that companies view CE as one of the tools to achieve sustainable development, particularly in the environmental domain, where the focus lies on environmentally friendly resource use. Yet, the respondents are less confident whether CE increases economic and social benefits of firms. Interviews show that a majority of respondents position sustainability as the overarching concept. However, most companies advocate that the private sector should strive for both sustainability and circularity, though the distinction between the two concepts in daily business operations seems synthetic and futile to some. These findings provide an important stepping stone for better understanding how firms could apply CE practices to move towards a more sustainable society. |
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What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practicesCircular economySustainabilitySemi-quantitative surveySemi-structured interviewsMixed methodsPrivate sectorODS::09:Indústria, Inovação e InfraestruturasODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades SustentáveisODS::12:Produção e Consumo SustentáveisThe circular economy (CE) concept has become a major interest for companies, promising new business opportunities and a decrease in environmental impacts. Though research on circular business models has recently increased, few scholars have investigated how companies engaged with CE view the connection between CE and sustainability. To address this gap, this paper uses a semi-quantitative survey and semistructured interviews conducted with companies based in Italy and the Netherlands. Purposive sampling was employed to target firms associated with national and international CE networks, as these companies already engage with CE practices. The survey was distributed online to over 800 firms, of which 155 provided information on their understanding of the CE concept and its relationship with sustainability. The survey results are complemented through findings from 43 interviews with a subset of the survey respondents. The survey answers show that companies view CE as one of the tools to achieve sustainable development, particularly in the environmental domain, where the focus lies on environmentally friendly resource use. Yet, the respondents are less confident whether CE increases economic and social benefits of firms. Interviews show that a majority of respondents position sustainability as the overarching concept. However, most companies advocate that the private sector should strive for both sustainability and circularity, though the distinction between the two concepts in daily business operations seems synthetic and futile to some. These findings provide an important stepping stone for better understanding how firms could apply CE practices to move towards a more sustainable society.Repositório AbertoWalker, Anna MariaOpferkuch, KatelinRoos Lindgreen, ErikRaggi, AndreaSimboli, AlbertoVermeulen, Walter J. V.Caeiro, SandraSalomone, Roberta2021-09-28T14:29:43Z2021-06-022021-09-17T14:51:22Z2021-06-02T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11128eng2730-597Xcv-prod-258413310.1007/s43615-021-00064-7info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-11-16T15:37:58Zoai:repositorioaberto.uab.pt:10400.2/11128Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T22:50:35.922871Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
title |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
spellingShingle |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices Walker, Anna Maria Circular economy Sustainability Semi-quantitative survey Semi-structured interviews Mixed methods Private sector ODS::09:Indústria, Inovação e Infraestruturas ODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis ODS::12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis |
title_short |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
title_full |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
title_fullStr |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
title_full_unstemmed |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
title_sort |
What is the relation between circular economy and sustainability?: answers from frontrunner companies engaged with circular economy practices |
author |
Walker, Anna Maria |
author_facet |
Walker, Anna Maria Opferkuch, Katelin Roos Lindgreen, Erik Raggi, Andrea Simboli, Alberto Vermeulen, Walter J. V. Caeiro, Sandra Salomone, Roberta |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Opferkuch, Katelin Roos Lindgreen, Erik Raggi, Andrea Simboli, Alberto Vermeulen, Walter J. V. Caeiro, Sandra Salomone, Roberta |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Aberto |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Walker, Anna Maria Opferkuch, Katelin Roos Lindgreen, Erik Raggi, Andrea Simboli, Alberto Vermeulen, Walter J. V. Caeiro, Sandra Salomone, Roberta |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Circular economy Sustainability Semi-quantitative survey Semi-structured interviews Mixed methods Private sector ODS::09:Indústria, Inovação e Infraestruturas ODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis ODS::12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis |
topic |
Circular economy Sustainability Semi-quantitative survey Semi-structured interviews Mixed methods Private sector ODS::09:Indústria, Inovação e Infraestruturas ODS::11:Cidades e Comunidades Sustentáveis ODS::12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis |
description |
The circular economy (CE) concept has become a major interest for companies, promising new business opportunities and a decrease in environmental impacts. Though research on circular business models has recently increased, few scholars have investigated how companies engaged with CE view the connection between CE and sustainability. To address this gap, this paper uses a semi-quantitative survey and semistructured interviews conducted with companies based in Italy and the Netherlands. Purposive sampling was employed to target firms associated with national and international CE networks, as these companies already engage with CE practices. The survey was distributed online to over 800 firms, of which 155 provided information on their understanding of the CE concept and its relationship with sustainability. The survey results are complemented through findings from 43 interviews with a subset of the survey respondents. The survey answers show that companies view CE as one of the tools to achieve sustainable development, particularly in the environmental domain, where the focus lies on environmentally friendly resource use. Yet, the respondents are less confident whether CE increases economic and social benefits of firms. Interviews show that a majority of respondents position sustainability as the overarching concept. However, most companies advocate that the private sector should strive for both sustainability and circularity, though the distinction between the two concepts in daily business operations seems synthetic and futile to some. These findings provide an important stepping stone for better understanding how firms could apply CE practices to move towards a more sustainable society. |
publishDate |
2021 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2021-09-28T14:29:43Z 2021-06-02 2021-09-17T14:51:22Z 2021-06-02T00:00:00Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11128 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11128 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
2730-597X cv-prod-2584133 10.1007/s43615-021-00064-7 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
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application/pdf |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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