Mapping the diffusion of circular economy good practices: Success factors and sustainable challenges

Shifting from a linear to a circular economy (CE) is a path promoted from different national and supranational organizations from many years but how that circularity is put in place by businesses from an empirical perspective is still a research gap in the literature. There is the need to stress the study of empirical cases to better understand what are the success factors, the sustainable challenges and the way forward to achieve the goal of a CE. This paper aims to investigate how the circular economy is spreading at the empirical level and with what evolution and opportunities. The framework of the diffusion theory is used to analyse how the CE, as a business model innovation, is widespread. The Italian scenario is taken as background, and 62 good practices of CE are analysed. The results promote a discussion on the attributes of CE, policy implications and future studies to booster the circular changing in society.

Automated summary

The shift from a linear to a circular economy has been promoted by various organizations for many years, but how businesses implement circularity empirically is still an area of research gap. This paper aims to investigate the spread of the circular economy at the empirical level, analyzing the Italian scenario and examining 62 good practices of the circular economy. The results provide insights into the attributes of the circular economy, policy implications, and future research directions.