Transition to a Circular Economy in Europe through New Business Models: Barriers, Drivers, and Policy Making

Gabi Försterling, Ronald Orth () and Benjamin Gellert
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Gabi Försterling: Boozt, 215 37 Malmö, Sweden
Ronald Orth: Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Benjamin Gellert: Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, 10587 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-40

Abstract: In recent years, because of global challenges resulting from increased resource shortages and the climate crisis, interest in and the commitment to transition to a more sustainable economic system, especially a circular economy, has increased among scientists, politicians, and practitioners in Europe. To create a system that maintains the value of products as long as possible and minimizes waste, new business models, so-called circular business models (CBMs), are required. So far, as a result of far-reaching barriers, no breakthrough regarding CBMs has been observed and there are a lack of comprehensive analyses on the barriers and drivers of CBMs. Using a systematic literature analysis, this gap was filled and 637 barriers and 394 drivers were extracted from 76 publications, which were categorized into eight areas and synthesized in a comprehensive framework. The results show that an undifferentiated analysis of CBMs could result in incorrect assumptions, as the barriers between them differ. Overall, however, the most significant effect on all CBMs is from external barriers at a macro level. In this paper, drivers, in the form of success factors and political measures, were assigned to concrete barriers, indicating that policy interventions are needed in Europe in order to overcome these barriers and accelerate systematic change. The article provides research, policy, and practice with a theoretically grounded basis for analyzing these barriers and overcoming them.

Keywords: circular economy; circular business models; framework; barriers and drivers; enablers; interference; systematic literature review; content analysis; circular strategies; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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