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Circular Economy and Sustainable Business Models: New Knowledge, New Rules

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2025) | Viewed by 2532

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute for Economic and Social Analysis, University of Alcalá, E-28802, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
Interests: innovation; growth; regional economics; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of a circular economy (CE) is widely recognized as one most promising systemic change initiatives to slow down and even halt climate change, and so limiting the long-term effects on our planet's life-support systems and their carrying capacity (Vos R., 2015; Steffen et al., 2015). 

Adopting a circular economy (CE) poses significant technological, organisational and managerial challenges to companies and organisations alike. The literature suggests that circular business models are key to the implementation of a circular economy (Geissdoerfer et al., 2020). Their adoption can modify the necessary patterns of product and material flows through the economy.

Business models are understood as the logic of how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value. However, today, much of the research on this is based on linear "take–make–dispose" models rather than circular models oriented toward a more sustainable and regenerative economic system. The integration of the principles of a circular economy into circular business model strategies will create and capture value to steer society's economy and resource management towards slower, more closed material and energy use cycles and higher productivity.

Despite the driving idea behind CE being the adoption of a circular model of natural resource use that maximizes the recycling and re-use of material, the focus in enabling the CE transition has been on the development of technical solutions, with economical solutions given much less attention.

Companies’ ability to formulate CE business value propositions demands a careful assessment of what accounting methods and measurements to use. Financial and managerial accounting standards and practices were created for linear businesses. Accounting professionals but also managers and experts in other fields need to recognize the critical role of accounting and the need to develop new accounting standards and practices fitting circular businesses, addressing concerns about how to account for these new business practices.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Measuring and assessing circular business performance;
  • Circular business model typologies;
  • Barriers and enablers of circular business adoption;
  • Circular supply chain management;
  • Circular business models in different industries;
  • Circular business model innovation;
  • Circular business model scalability;
  • Policy and regulatory frameworks;
  • Financial and managerial accounting and business models;
  • Circular business model education and training.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Rubén Garrido-Yserte
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • circular economy
  • circular business models
  • business model innovation
  • circular accounting
  • capabilities
  • skills

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1700 KiB  
Article
Unveiling the Complex Relationship between Open Circular Innovation and Business Circularity: The Role of Circular-Based Dynamic Capabilities and Circular Ambidexterity
by Noor Ul Hadi
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7647; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177647 - 3 Sep 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1613
Abstract
Following calls for more research on the circular economy and open innovation, this study sheds light on the scant mechanisms influencing the relationship between open circular innovation and business circularity. This study theorizes that achieving business circularity requires a radical shift, and those [...] Read more.
Following calls for more research on the circular economy and open innovation, this study sheds light on the scant mechanisms influencing the relationship between open circular innovation and business circularity. This study theorizes that achieving business circularity requires a radical shift, and those circular exploitative activities may not be an effective strategy for this transition. Therefore, circular-based dynamic capabilities and circular ambidexterity are proposed as moderated-mediation mechanisms that explain the relationship between open circular innovation and business circularity. This study employs a quantitative approach to examine the hypothesized relationships. Data were purposively collected from owners and managers of marble manufacturing units due to the significant amount of waste generated by these units. A total of 292 valid responses were analyzed using SmartPLS version 4.1.0.5. The results revealed that the combined effect of open circular innovation and circular-based dynamic capabilities stimulates circular ambidexterity, which in turn leads to business circularity. This signifies that the complementary role of circular ambidexterity and circular-based dynamic capabilities foster the implementation of business circularity. This study empirically confirmed the application of three frameworks into a single new structure called the circular resource-based view, which has been neglected in previous literature. This study concluded that an organization’s circular resources, capabilities, and competencies, when combined harmoniously with circular strategies, could lead to business circularity. Full article
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