Circular Economy and Decision Models among European SMEs

Zamfir, Ana-Maria; Mocanu, Cristina; Grigorescu, Adriana

doi:10.3390/su9091507

Cited by 109 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Romanian SMEs are extremely different, so every branch of the national economy can benefit from the implementation of the principles of the circular economy in an adapted manner [41]. In these conditions, the extent to which SMEs are willing to adopt ecological measures and their attitude to green policies depends on the sector in which they operate [42].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, in the SME sector, there is only modest initiative from the government to support new investment, with no coherent legislative measures to encourage the circular economy convictions and principles [42]. In support of this, we can offer the example of the Ecological Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which has no clear delimitation between large businesses and the SME sector [53,54].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Sustainability of Romanian SMEs and Their Involvement in the Circular Economy

et al. 2018

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Sustainability involves extending the relational framework of SMEs outside the sphere of economic activity by justifying and legitimizing actions with a social impact on the environment. Links with the circular economy are achieved through the economic and environmental dimensions and through corporate social responsibility as a component of sustainable development. The main purpose of the paper was to determine the level of involvement of Romanian SMEs in activities related to the circular economy. The sample survey conducted among SME managers offered the advantage of collecting a large amount of direct information on the activities undertaken, the size of the investments and the nature of the funding sources used over the last five years. In this descriptive research, the process of setting up a representative sample of 384 enterprises was carried out by random sampling. The major contributions of the research project are to outline the contribution of Romanian SMEs to the development of a sustainable economy through their involvement in specific activities, the size of the investments made, and the level of participation of representatives of the enterprises in courses in order to identify new sources of financing and positive solutions in order to implement the principles of the circular economy.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sustainability of Romanian SMEs and Their Involvement in the Circular Economy

et al. 2018

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“…Based on a comprehensive literature review, in [11] the CE was defined as an economic system that operates at micro, meso and macro levels and switches the 'end-of-life' concept to the concept that is focused on sustainable development. Moreover, working on a sample of 128 circular start-ups, [12] distinguished between five circular archetypes: design-based, waste-based, platform-based, service-based and nature-based.The broad consensus in this literature is that the investment in the circular economy can generate positive effects on firm performance [7,8,11,[13][14][15][16][17]. More precisely, it is considered that firms could profit from the circular economy adoption through the generation of environmental benefits associated with the reduced impacts and resource usage, cost savings generated from reduced natural resource requirements, and the new markets formation [13][14][15].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The broad consensus in this literature is that the investment in the circular economy can generate positive effects on firm performance [7,8,11,[13][14][15][16][17]. More precisely, it is considered that firms could profit from the circular economy adoption through the generation of environmental benefits associated with the reduced impacts and resource usage, cost savings generated from reduced natural resource requirements, and the new markets formation [13][14][15].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Phases of the Adoption of the Circular Economy on Firm Performance: Evidence from 28 EU Countries

et al. 2020

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Although a substantial body of literature has analysed the potential benefits of the circular economy, empirical evidence on the relationship between circular economy-related activities and firm performance is scarce. Rather than analysing only the effect of the circular economy on firm performance, we empirically examine the effects of the different phases of the adoption process of the circular economy on firm performance. Therefore, in this paper, a multiphase framework of circular economy adoption is developed. Employing a propensity-score-matching model on the sample of more than 4000 European SMEs, we show that the adoption of circular economy activities improves firm performance as measured by productivity. In addition, our findings reveal that the impact of circular economy activities on firm performance is dependent on the different phases of the adoption process. Taken together, this study enriches current research on the circular economy by contributing to a more nuanced understanding on the relationship between the different phases of the adoption process and firm performance.

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“…But earlier this year, a European Commission report on the implementation of environmental policies at European level (European Commission, 2017b, p. 5) showed that the circular economy is underdeveloped in our country. Other authors (Zamfir et al, 2017)…”

Section: Typology Of Circular Economy Activities: From the State Of Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

SMEs and the Circular Economy: From Policy to Difficulties Encountered During Implementation

Ghenţa¹,

Matei²

2018

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Circular economy is a concept that currently received a particular attention due to its contribution to the European objectives related to economic development under restrictive environmental conditions, in other words, the implementation of circular economy activities is essential to maintain and increase the competitiveness of the European economy. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of circular economy, of its different dimensions, and in the same time of the difficulties experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises in the process of implementing such activities, at national level. In order to achieve these objectives, data related to the activity of SMEs in Romania regarding circular economy, gathered within Flash Eurobarometer 441 coordinated by the European Commission during April 2016, were analysed. Although the European Union supports the green initiatives of small and medium-sized enterprises and encourages Member States to have similar behaviour, this paper concludes that national policies need to pay more attention to the training of workers and to support the development of the knowledge and professionalism, and concomitantly to reduce the degree of bureaucracy in assessing compliance of the activities carried out by SMEs in the field.

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Circular Economy and Decision Models among European SMEs

Cited by 109 publications

References 37 publications

The Sustainability of Romanian SMEs and Their Involvement in the Circular Economy

The Sustainability of Romanian SMEs and Their Involvement in the Circular Economy

The Effect of Phases of the Adoption of the Circular Economy on Firm Performance: Evidence from 28 EU Countries

SMEs and the Circular Economy: From Policy to Difficulties Encountered During Implementation

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