Circular economy and the policy: A framework for improving the corporate environmental management in supply chains

Abstract

The transition to the circular economy (CE) creates value through the closed‐loop systems, reverse logistics, product life cycle management, and clean production in terms of corporate environmental management. During this transition process, the organization faces many barriers such as financial, organizational, technology‐based, social, policy‐related, market‐based, and logistics‐based barriers. The objectives of this study are to propose a framework highlighting policy‐related barriers for a supply chain in the transition to CE and finally discuss potential implications on enhancing corporate environmental performance of a business. Further, this study evaluates the causal relationships between the policy‐related barriers using fuzzy Decision‐Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The application was conducted in an apparel firm in Turkey. From findings, lack of legislation for efficient CE (C4), lack of mandatory requirements and responsibilities for manufacturers/suppliers for the CE (C17), and lack of government support for environmentally friendly policies (C2) are revealed as the most important barriers, respectively. It is found that lack of attitude and awareness about CE in government institutions (C19) is the most influencing factor, whereas lack of effective recycling policies to achieve quality in waste management (C8) is the most influenced factor. The recommendations were developed for enhancing the corporate environmental performance of businesses through incentives and unique rewards, improving communication among stakeholders, the government's perception of CE and current linear economy, cooperation with nongovernmental organization (NGOs) and civil actions, the vision of government towards circular principles, the circular public procurement, the local governments in circular policymaking, and awareness of bureaucracy and government officials.

Exploring Barriers for Circularity in the EU Furniture Industry

“…Despite the concerns about humanity's impact on Earth and Earth's resources, and the support for CE as expressed in business and political circles [8], the progress of transitioning to a CE is reported to be limited [18,19,29,[62][63][64][65][66]. Several studies, for example [17,18,20,22,26,28,29,64,[67][68][69], report barriers or challenges that businesses experience in their transition towards circularity. For example, Preston [18] identified the following: high up-front costs; complex international supply chains; resource-intensive infrastructure lock-in; failures in company cooperation; lack of consumer enthusiasm; and limited dissemination of innovation, across both emerging economies and developed countries.…”

“…De Jesus and Mendonça [29] recognized these technical, market related, and economic barriers, and added 'softer' criteria, such as regulatory, social, and cultural barriers. Kazancoglu et al [68] added that "governmental policies, regulations, and legislations play important role" in the transition towards CE. In one of the most recent studies, Ormazabal et al [22] summarized the barriers found in earlier studies as: lack of financial support, inadequate information management systems, lack of proper technology, lack of technical resources, lack of financial resources, lack of consumer interest in the environment, lack of support from public institutions, lack of qualified professionals in environmental management, and lack of commitment on the part of the organizations' leaders.…”

Mapping the Circular Economy Concept and the Global South

“…In addition, in a few articles the "Tools, models, framework, methods for decision-making" was combined with other research types. A few examples include with "Business model and management" in an article assessing the costs of municipal waste recycling [96]; with "Economic Model," in an evaluation of the electrical and electronic equipment industry [81]; and with "Policy," in a study developing CE frameworks for the building sector [97] and the Supply Chains management [98].…”

“…In addition, in a few articles the "Tools, models, framework, methods for decision-making" was combined with other research types. A few examples include with "Business model and management" in an article assessing the costs of municipal waste recycling[96]; with "Economic Model," in an evaluation of the electrical and electronic equipment industry[81]; and with "Policy," in a study developing CE frameworks for the building sector[97] and the Supply Chains management[98].The second most published research type was "Review" (43 articles). Notably, several studies in this category combined with the "Tools, models, framework, methods for decisionmaking" research type, primarily through applying structural modeling techniques such as DEMATEL, AHP, and ELECTRE.Next, for "Process Engineering" (36 articles), a significant focus was observed on biomass or bi-products chemical and biological processes and experimentation with alternative synthetic products.…”

Impact of adopted Quality Management on a business model in globalized economy

“…Moreover, it is essential to skilfully use different methods and concepts of management to ensure the continuity of business. "Companies need to design their new business models within the value network in their relations with supply chain members and customers" [3]. Consequently, sustainable business models, in their essence, support companies' effectiveness and contribute to their stable, sustainable functioning in the difficult, ever-changing market.…”