The Circular Economy is a paradigm shift attempting to replace the end-of-life concept with reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering materials and to slow down, close and narrow material and power loops. This concept is much discussed in the academic literature, but limited progress has been accomplished so far regarding its empirical analysis. The objective of this work is to study circular economy practices and analyze in depth the circular economy behavior in European firms. We find that firms’ circular economy behavior is a gradual process where measures are implemented gradually, starting with activities involving control measures and ending with putting preventive practices in place. We discovered also that the most proactive companies in implementing circular economy measures generally come across certain common barriers such as administrative processes, regulations and a lack of human resources to perform these practices, while firms that have not implemented circular economy measures view financing, investment and cost–benefit barriers as the most significant. Significant efforts need to be undertaken by firms to accomplished circular economy. Also circular economy regulation should be improved to make it easier for companies to implement strategies that will make them more sustainable.

The current economic situation has increased the number of households in Europe experiencing restrictions and/or limitations of affordability of energy services, demonstrating the urgent need to intervene in those extreme cases in which households suffer the daily consequences of what is internationally defined as energy poverty. In such a context, this paper presents the results obtained in a case study characterising a sample of 615 households with demonstrated energy poverty in the region of Aragón (Spain). In parallel, the intensity of energy poverty in the studied cases is examined by measuring the percentage of energy expenditures with respect to income in the households that suffer it, and a descriptive analysis of the main determinants of energy poverty in the homes studied is presented as well as the policy implication at regional level.

Greenwashing is a communication practice that consists of the deliberate and voluntary disclosure of environmentally misleading (or even false) information by a firm and which the public understands to be deceptive. Although prior literature analyzes greenwashing effects from the greenwasher perspective, the underlying perceptions of managers in the decision‐making process related to maintaining (or contracting a new) a commercial partner, client, supplier, or other stakeholder who is a greenwasher, remain underexplored. This work empirically examines how greenwashing could influence managers' decision‐making and whether a moderation effect of attitude toward environmental management exists in this relationship. In doing so, this work relies on experimental design.

This study analyses the effect of communication and cooperation-as engagement mechanisms of stakeholder's integration capacity-on eco-innovation intensity in firms. With this purpose, a mediation model is conducted, controlling by activity sector and firm's size. Results show that communication, as the first stakeholder engagement mechanism, has a positive effect on eco-innovation strategy and that communication is a step that comes before cooperation. Results show that cooperation with stakeholders also supports eco-innovation strategy development. It is therefore concluded that, when firms reach the greatest degree of stakeholder integration, through cooperation mechanisms, eco-innovation strategy is greater than when there is only communication. This study provides three types of contribution to the literature: First, the effects of two types of stakeholder engagement mechanisms, communication, and cooperation, on firm's eco-innovation strategy are separately analysed, as the interconnection between them. Second, the study proposes a novel way of measuring eco-innovation that enables us to consider different degrees of eco-innovative intensity based on a capital model that includes the accumulation of tangible and intangible assets derived from activities recently adopted by firms to reduce environmental impact. Third, this study provides empirical evidence to previous literature, generally case study-based, of the effect that the stakeholder integration process has on eco-innovation, through communication and cooperation mechanisms.