Circular business models in biological cycles: The case of an Italian spin-off

As a new economic model fostering increased resource efficiency, the circular economy has become the subject of academic research, national and supranational policies and attracted the interest of business leaders recently. The primary role of corporations and business model innovation to make signi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cleaner production Vol. 247; p. 119603
Main Authors De Angelis, Roberta, Feola, Rosangela
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 20.02.2020
Subjects
Biological cycle
business enterprises
Circular business models
Circular economy
corporations
industry
issues and policy
markets
Biological cycle
Circular economy
Circular business models
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0959-6526
1879-1786
DOI10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119603

Cover

More Information
Summary:As a new economic model fostering increased resource efficiency, the circular economy has become the subject of academic research, national and supranational policies and attracted the interest of business leaders recently. The primary role of corporations and business model innovation to make significant progress towards a circular economy has been emphasised in scholarly literature. However, there is a dearth of academic studies investigating examples of circular economy implementation at the company level and, particularly, in the bio-based industry. Hence, this article contributes to the academic literature by casting some light on the characteristics of circular business models in a practical, bio-based context, using a theoretical framework that bridges academic and practitioners’ literature on the circular economy and business models. To illustrate our points we draw on an in-depth, qualitative case of a circular start-up from the Italian ecological paint market. Albeit constrained in its generalisability, this research does provide some useful insights concerning how companies design and implement circular activities and business models. [Display omitted] •Evidence of company level circular economy implementation is limited.•The bio-based sector is underrepresented in current circular economy literature.•Insights about circular activities and business models implementation are provided.•Findings draw on a qualitative case study from the Italian ecological paint market.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0959-6526
1879-1786
DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119603