Business Model Innovation for Resource-efficiency, Circularity and Cleaner Production: What 143 Cases Tell Us

Lopez, F.J. Diaz; Bastein, Ton; Tukker, Arnold

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.03.009

Cited by 163 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…SBM innovations incorporate sustainability principles into the business model innovation process (Foss and Saebi, 2016;Massa and Tucci, 2014), seeking to conceptualise and implement new business models while also benefitting society and the environment (Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013;Lüdeke-Freund et al, 2018;Pieroni et al, 2019). CBM innovations seek to create CBMs by integrating the more concrete circularity principles into the business model innovation process (Diaz Lopez et al, 2019;Geissdoerfer et al, 2018;Linder and Williander, 2017). An emblematic example of CBM innovations is the product-service system model, which entails a conversion from selling a product to providing leasing and sharing services, thereby decoupling the service provision from the ownership of physical goods (Tukker, 2004;Tukker and Tischner, 2006;Vezzoli et al, 2015).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

Henry

Bauwens

Hekkert

et al. 2020

Journal of Cleaner Production

282

252

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The circular economy (CE) concept is much-heralded among policy-makers, scholars and industry professionals as an accelerated pathway towards sustainability. This move away from the dominant linear system where products are discarded at the end of product lifecycle is deemed necessary since it is the main cause of an accelerated resource consumption. Business models are considered as a key enabler for the shift from a linear to a CE. However, research on circular business models has mainly focused on circular approaches adopted by incumbent firms, while the contributions of newly established firms (the authors call these 'circular start-ups') have been largely overlooked. This article scrutinises the business models of circular start-ups and how they may differ from those of incumbent firms embracing CE. For this, it analyses the circular business model strategies and innovations adopted by circular start-ups, relying on a novel data sample of 128 circular start-ups identified in three major CE ecosystems in Europe: the Randstad region in the Netherlands, Berlin and London. Based on this data, a novel typology of circular start-ups is proposed, distinguishing between five circular start-up archetypes: design-based, waste-based, platform-based, service-based and nature-based start-ups. The results also show that circular start-ups tend to embrace strategies corresponding to higher levels of circularity than those of incumbents. This preliminarily suggests that circular start-ups can indeed make major contributions to transitioning towards CE.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

Henry

Bauwens

Hekkert

et al. 2020

Journal of Cleaner Production

282

252

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The proposed model brings together diverse factors that foster eco-innovative activities as identified by the research of world-renowned eco-innovation authors. Several studies on eco-innovation in cluster structures highlight the work of Arranz et al [67] that fosters cluster creation due to the impact of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in activating national economies, for which the European Union created multiple strategies to promote and strengthen the economies of conglomerates to make them competitive on an international scale and gain worldwide visibility, as seen when analyzing cluster experiences in India, Pakistan, Japan, and China [11,68]. Arita [11] stresses the role of the capabilities generated, especially when there is an innovation support system for such initiatives and business growth [69].…”

Section: Results: Proposed Model Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Endogenous and Exogenous Indicators to Measure Eco-Innovation within Clusters

et al. 2020

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Scientific and business environment literature shows that green, sustainable innovation or eco-innovation has proven to be a source of competitive advantage today. The industrial clusters, their dynamism, and the synergies created within them attract a lot of attention from the scientific community. However, to date, the joint study of these two concepts and, more specifically, the factors that drive eco-innovation specifically in a cluster, have not been studied in depth. This article models eco-innovation in industrial clusters, thus addressing this gap and proposing a model based on information gathered from the literature and a detailed analysis of behavior in relation to eco-innovation in different sectors. Results suggest that including eco-innovation variables and measures may have positive implications such as improvements at the strategic level and the reduction of costs and use of resources. An eco-innovation model for clusters is proposed. It considers eight key factors that seek to raise its competitive level by promoting eco-innovation within clusters. The model includes five internal factors that analyze business capabilities and three external factors that study the effect of launching eco-innovative activities. This model could help the companies’ managers and those responsible for clusters in creating more successful strategies to increase competitiveness by enhancing eco-innovation. It could also serve as a guide for government entities in the performance of eco-innovative activities in economic sectors.

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“…When designing their business model, companies should look at preserving all the resources, including energy and fuel, according to the main goal of CE (i.e., closing loops in as many areas of consumption and production as possible) [28,33]. Most recent studies [34] propose Resource Efficiency Measures (REMs) or practices that companies can implement at the supply side (i.e., supply chain, internal processes, and cost structure), at the demand side (i.e., value proposition, customer interface, and revenue streams), and throughout the life cycle (i.e., use and waste phase of products), to reduce the resources needed for their goods or services.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing the Introduction of Circular Products: Evidence from the Beverage Industry

2019

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The aim of this paper is to study what managerial practices companies follow and implement in their business model to manage the introduction of Circular Products. Extensively screening extant literature in the field, we clustered a set of relevant managerial practices in four main principles of Circular Economy (CE) adoption at the product level: (i) Energy efficiency and usage of renewable sources of energy; (ii) Product and process optimisation for resource efficiency; (iii) Product design for circularity; (iv) Exploitation of waste as a resource. Then, the adoption of these principles was tested on two companies (and three Circular Products) operating in the beverage-packaging industry, where the adoption of CE is further challenged by the fact that packaging is necessary to deliver the product to consumers, but the majority of the one-way packaging is discarded after use. The identified principles provide general objectives in terms of end goals that should be achieved in order to adopt CE and manage the introduction of Circular Products. This paper shows a practical implementation of these principles on real empirical cases for theory-testing scopes.

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Business Model Innovation for Resource-efficiency, Circularity and Cleaner Production: What 143 Cases Tell Us

Cited by 163 publications

References 37 publications

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models

Identifying Endogenous and Exogenous Indicators to Measure Eco-Innovation within Clusters

Managing the Introduction of Circular Products: Evidence from the Beverage Industry

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