Towards a circular economy for packaging waste by using new technologies: The case of large multinationals in emerging economies

Earth's capacity to sustain mankind is reaching a tipping point. Packaging waste is one of the critical problems that is leading to such a situation and a focus of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. However, large multinational enterprises look at their products and its packaging in a separate way, which leads them to think that when the product is consumed, their responsibility ends, leaving the government to deal with the issue of managing the packaging waste. Due to the complexity of the issue and the fact that this is particularly problematic in emerging markets, we used an in-depth and longitudinal case study analysis. We found that there were a desire and ability, with the use of the right technology, among urban groups to tackle the problem if with the right incentives to the different involved actors and from a holistic perspective. Our findings allowed us to advance a holistic framework based on incentives by using digitalization and new technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. Doing so, we advance the theory in the circular economy by enhancing it with the use of new technologies and advance a resources value loop that adds to the product life cycle theory. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Earth's ability to sustain human life is at a critical point due to packaging waste, which large multinational enterprises often view separately from their products, leaving the responsibility to governments. Through in-depth analysis, it was found that urban groups have the desire and capability to address this issue with the right incentives and technology. By advancing a holistic framework based on incentives and new technologies, the circular economy theory is enhanced with a focus on a resources value loop in the product lifecycle theory.