Model of the circular economy and its application in business practice

Otakar Ungerman () and Jaroslava Dědková ()
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Otakar Ungerman: Technical University of Liberec
Jaroslava Dědková: Technical University of Liberec

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2020, vol. 22, issue 4, No 33, 3407-3432

Abstract: Abstract The circular economy is a philosophy that is clearly beneficial to the environment. The question is what economic result is offered by this philosophy and how to quantify that result. The aim of this paper is to put together a model of the circular economy to determine the economic result of enterprises’ involvement in the circular economy. The model has been created and subsequently applied in business practice. The model was applied on the basis of primary research aimed at determining the level of enterprises’ involvement in renovation, reuse and recycling, and hard data were acquired from the Czech Statistical Office. The model enabled the quantification of the impact of enterprises’ involvement in the circular economy. The results exactly proved that enterprises profit through their involvement in the circular economy. A loss was demonstrated in just one sector and one phase of processing discarded waste. The results demonstrate a positive economic impact in the long term. The main obstacle in the short term is the initial investment in technology and processes for processing discarded material. The main scientific benefit of the paper is the creation of a functional model of the circular economy, which was applied in practice. The results of this work clearly prove the claim that the circular economy has a positive impact on the environment, and also on enterprises’ economic prosperity and thus the aggregate economy of the state.

Keywords: Circular economy; Life Cycle Assessment; Renovation; Reuse; Recycling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L10 L19 M11 M14 Q56 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-019-00351-2

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