The stakeholder business case for circular economy: An ordonomic approach for developing a circular economy business case by stakeholder governance

Felix Carl Schultz, Vladislav Valentinov and Ingo Pies

Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2025, vol. 29, issue 4, 1279-1292

Abstract: Recent circular economy (CE) literature has examined the opportunities and limitations of business case logics, yet this area remains under‐theorized. This article contributes to the emerging debate by drawing on the stakeholder business case for sustainability from corporate sustainability literature, emphasizing the role of stakeholder collaboration in addressing sustainability challenges. By adopting the ordonomic approach from business ethics, we (re‐)conceptualize the stakeholder business case for CE, focusing on the dynamic interplay between profit motives and stakeholder collaboration. This article makes three key contributions. First, it bridges the gap between theoretical business case logics and CE practices, demonstrating how innovative stakeholder governance can foster incentive‐ and system‐compatible CE integration. Second, it contends that successful CE practices demand a comprehensive, system‐level approach that actively involves all stakeholders. It underscores the importance of broad stakeholder engagement in business case development and illustrates how such collaboration harmonizes individual and collective interests within a CE. Third, it expands the stakeholder business case for sustainability by introducing a conceptual distinction between stakeholders’ semantics, governance, and optimization. This distinction offers new opportunities to reconcile profit orientation with environmental stewardship, advancing the societal transition to a functional CE.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.70046

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:inecol:v:29:y:2025:i:4:p:1279-1292

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1088-1980

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Industrial Ecology is currently edited by Reid Lifset

More articles in Journal of Industrial Ecology from Yale University
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().