Eco-Innovations Transition of Agri-food Enterprises Into a Circular Economy

Abstract

Eco-innovations that reduce the environmental effect of manufacturing and consumption are seen as critical components of sustainable development and a critical component of the transition to a circular economy. Food systems address the issue of food waste, which is generally acknowledged as a cost to the economy, the environment, and society. Eco-innovations seem to be critical for the food system's transformation to a more circular model centered on sustainable food production and processing. The goal of this paper was to determine the variables that influenced the introduction of product, process, organizational, and marketing innovations in European Union agri-food enterprises between 2012 and 2014. According to a preliminary analysis of the data, 57.40% of agribusinesses did not implement any form of innovation, which prompted the authors to study the difficulties surrounding innovation development over the 3-year reference period. Several key factors emerge as significant influences on the introduction of product innovations (0.055**); contractual requirements as significant influences on the introduction of process innovations (−0.081***); and environmental incentives as significant influences on the introduction of marketing innovations (0.062***). Additionally, product (0.704***) and process (1.051***) innovations tend to have a greater influence on enterprises' views of circular benefits. The investigation also demonstrates how enterprises and end users interpret the effect of various forms of innovation differently. Indeed, end users, in contrast to how enterprises understand it, believe that organizational (0.611***) and marketing (0.916***) innovations are critical in pursuing circular benefits.

Raising effective awareness for circular economy and sustainability concepts through students' involvement in a virtual enterprise

“…The introduction of innovation for creating circular models in the agri-food sector is fraught with various obstacles, such as the lack of private and public financial sources and markets for new products and byproducts and weaknesses in technical, cognitive, and educational aspects. Moreover, multiple stakeholders involved in food loss and food waste management, who originate from both production and consumption systems, should accept the CE model and undertake responsibilities and obligations for cooperation and coordination (Hamam et al, 2021(Hamam et al, , 2022. The present case reveals that the coordination of various stakeholders plays a crucial role in a CE agri-enterprise to flourish, which was undertaken successfully by a team of students.…”

Industrial symbiosis and agri-food system: Themes, links, and relationships

“…The notion of circular economy (CE) is seen as the guiding principle of eco-innovation (Hamam et al, 2021(Hamam et al, , 2022, which is aimed at achieving a zero-waste society and economy, whose raw materials are utilized to create new goods and uses.…”

A Influência Sda Hélices De Inovação Sobre a Ecoinovação Na Busca Do Desenvolvimento Sustentável: Uma Survey No Sul Do Brasil

“…Dessa forma, a EI que reduza o efeito ambiental da fabricação e do consumo é vista como componente crítico do desenvolvimento sustentável, assim como contribui para uma economia circular (Hamam et al, 2022), o que é primordial para a manutenção dos recursos naturais e disponibilidade para as futuras gerações.…”