Interorganizational collaboration and the use of new digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, internet of things (IoT), or blockchain technology, are regarded as key enablers in implementing sustainability and circular economy-oriented practices. While this is reflected in a few conceptual and case studies, statistical analyses on the topic are rare. No study so far has focused on collaboration, and digital technologies have only been studied in isolation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of interorganizational collaboration practices on a firm's circular economy practices and on outcomes (sustainability performance and economic performance), as well as the potentially facilitative role of new digital technologies on both. The research is based on a deductive approach, using a random sample of 112 Austrian manufacturing companies. The study employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), features a multiple-respondent design, and uses the dynamic capabilities view as a theoretical foundation. The study finds that interorganizational collaboration practices have a strong positive effect on the implementation of sustainability and CE practices, while the use of new digital technologies and general dynamic capabilities do not. The use of digital technologies positively affects only interorganizational collaboration, while general dynamic capabilities serve as an antecedent for both the use of digital technologies and interorganizational collaboration. Regarding the outcomes of CE implementation, the study finds a positive impact on firm-level sustainability and economic performance. From a theoretical point of view, the study provides a new perspective on the prerequisites for successful CE implementation, highlights the importance of collaboration, and contextualizes the role of new digital technologies and dynamic capabilities. From a practical point of view, based on the positive outcomes found, the study supports arguments in favor of company engagement in CE activity. It also serves to motivate purposive digitization and systems thinking in order to create efficient CE collaboration networks.

Implementing the circular economy (CE) in the plastic packaging sector is considered a crucial step towards the adoption of more sustainable practices. However, despite the presence of regulatory CE targets, the plastic packaging sector's transition is not speeding up sufficiently to reach them. Individual companies need to reconfigure their resource base and develop complementary resources and capabilities to improve the systems performance. Based on the resource-based view, this study identifies and prioritizes the most important resources and capabilities for a circular transition along the plastic packaging supply chain. Accordingly, expert opinion was analyzed using a combination of a real-time Delphi method and an analytic hierarchy process. Two aspects were of utmost importance for the experts: collaboration capabilities between upstream and downstream actors, and design capabilities that create simpler and recyclable products. When prioritizing resources and capabilities, potential conflicts between reactive and proactive CE strategies were found. Further research is proposed to (i) develop adequate framework conditions to enable higher waste management targets, (ii) apply dynamic, natural and extended resource-based views to better understand the effects of collaboration networks in CE and their dynamics, and (iii) investigate supply chain power relationships to understand the impacts of supply chain transformations.

There is growing consensus in literature and practice that digital technologies (DTs) can offer a wide range of potentials for implementing a circular economy in companies. However, empirical insights on how the potentials of different DTs are already realized across various industries are lacking. This study addresses this research gap through descriptive, hierarchical cluster and non-parametric analyses (Kruskal-Wallis tests and Spearman rank correlations) of the use of DTs for circular economy and sustainability management based on data collected in a structured telephone survey with 132 sustainability managers and CEOs of Austrian manufacturing companies. The paper shows for the first time the degree and stage of implementation of four key enabling DTs for a sustainable circular economy and 31 specific applications of those DTs across eight different industries. Of the four DTs, Internet of Things (IoT) technology is most widely implemented, followed by big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain technology. However, their use in sustainability management is still very limited and is currently mainly in pilot phases. Of the 31 applications surveyed, IoT technology is most frequently used for collecting data from production processes, AI for predictive maintenance, big data analytics for demand forecasting, and blockchain technology for tracking product origins. Statistically significant differences were found in the degree of digitalization, in general, and for sustainability management between industries and company sizes. A strong positive correlation between the implementation of digital technologies in general and their use in a sustainability management context indicates synergies and spillover effects. The findings may help to tailor context-specific and purpose-driven strategies that selectively leverage the benefits of different DTs and supporting sustainability management effectively. Further research may identify scalable best practices, optimal enabling conditions, and environmental and social outcomes.

Zusammenfassung Das Konzept der Kreislaufwirtschaft befindet sich seit 2015 als einer der wichtigsten Punkte auf der europäischen Agenda. Infolgedessen wurde auch die Forschung zur Rolle von Unternehmen in der Umstellung auf eine Kreislaufwirtschaft in den letzten Jahren erheblich intensiviert. Bislang wird die wissenschaftliche Literatur jedoch von konzeptionellen Arbeiten dominiert und die verfügbare empirische Forschung besteht hauptsächlich aus Einzel- oder Mehrfachfallstudien. Empirische Studien, die auf größeren Stichproben beruhen, sind selten und bisher hat keine Studie den Stand der Umsetzung der Kreislaufwirtschaft in österreichischen Unternehmen zum Gegenstand gehabt. Diese Forschungslücke wird durch die vorliegende Studie geschlossen, die die Ergebnisse von Telefoninterviews mit 120 GeschäftsführerInnen und 100 Nachhaltigkeitsverantwortlichen österreichischer Unternehmen darlegt. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf Unternehmen des produzierenden Gewerbes. Die Interviewfragen wurden aus der Literatur abgeleitet und bauen auf etablierten Konzepten wie den 10-Rs oder dem ReSOLVE Framework auf. Die Ergebnisse geben erstens Aufschluss über die strategische Kreislaufwirtschaftsorientierung österreichischer Unternehmen, indem sie detailliert aufzeigen, inwieweit Überlegungen zur Kreislaufwirtschaft in Unternehmensstrategien, Innovationen, Humankapital und Geschäftsführung integriert sind. Zweitens wird der Grad der Umsetzung von 26 spezifischen kreislaufwirtschafts- und nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Praktiken dargestellt. Diese Praktiken decken eine vollständige Lebenszyklusperspektive ab und umfassen Interventionen in verschiedenen Unternehmensbereichen. So wird beispielsweise dargestellt, inwieweit sich Unternehmen für ein nachhaltiges Lieferkettenmanagement engagieren, ihr Produktdesign ändern (z. B. Design für Recycling/Wiederverwendung/Reparatur, …), ihre Produktion optimieren (z. B. Verwendung von Rezyklaten, Schließung interner Ressourcenkreisläufe, …), ihre Geschäftsmodelle ändern (z. B. durch Dematerialisierung oder den Verkauf von Nebenprodukten) oder Post-Consumer-Produkte wiederverwenden bzw. rezyklieren. Drittens wird aufgezeigt, wie CEOs die Auswirkungen der Umsetzung dieser Strategien auf die finanzielle und nachhaltige Gesamtleistung ihrer Unternehmen bewerten. Abschließend wird dargestellt, wie die CEOs die Bereitschaft des österreichischen Marktes für die Kreislaufwirtschaft einschätzen. Dazu wird aufgezeigt, wie die Befragten den Wettbewerbsdruck, die technologischen Entwicklungen und die Nachfrage nach zirkulären Produkten bewerten. Zusammenfassend zeigt die Studie, dass die Einführung von Kreislaufwirtschaft in österreichischen Unternehmen immer noch in erster Linie auf Compliance und Effizienz ausgerichtet ist. Radikalere Veränderungen auf Produktebene, in der Produktion und vor allem in den Geschäftsmodellen sind selten. Diese und die anderen deskriptiven Erkenntnisse dieser Studie bieten PraktikerInnen und ForscherInnen eine umfassende Annäherung an den Reifegrad der Kreislaufwirtschaft in österreichischen Unternehmen aus verschiedenen Perspektiven. Damit kann sie als Grundlage für weitere Forschung und unternehmerisches Engagement bei der Umsetzung der Kreislaufwirtschaft dienen – eine Voraussetzung für die Erschließung der vollen Potenziale einer Kreislaufwirtschaft in Österreich.

The adoption of a circular economy is considered one possible means of transition towards a more sustainable economic system. While the number of circular economy concepts, frameworks, and single case studies is increasing rapidly, empirical evidence on its practical implementation is still scarce. Thus, this paper attempts to understand how circular economy theory is translated into organizational practice and what barriers companies face in their efforts towards more circularity. The study entailed a mixed methods approach using content analysis and correspondence analysis in a case survey with 131 CE projects as well as semi-structured interviews with five company representatives. This provides a new methodological perspective on the application of circular economy by clustering implementation principles, enablers and barriers, and by identifying sectoral differences, based on a large sample size. Results show that three circular economy implementation clusters can be distinguished: one focused on design, one on take-back management, and one on recycling, the latter being the most frequent. With respect to application of circular economy principles, sector-related differences were found between (i) manufacturing companies and slow-moving consumer goods, (ii) fast-moving goods, and (iii) classical b2b sectors. Barriers include important regulatory barriers, such as a lack of standardization, lack of governmental enforcement and cooperation, and lack of harmonization of EU legislation. The potential for policy leverage, diversification of circular economy implementation, and future research is also described.

Circular economy (CE) has gained momentum in the political, economic and scientific fields. The growing popularity of the concept is accompanied by some definitional ambiguities and conceptual uncertainties. In particular, the relationship and contribution of CE to sustainable development (SD) and thus to a more sustainable society is currently under discussion. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this discussion by providing new insights into the evolution and state of CE research over the past two decades, in general, and its sustainability connotation, in particular. For doing so, a mixed-methods approach was adopted that combines a longitudinal bibliographic network analysis, multiple correspondence analysis and k-means clustering, correlated topic modeling, historiographic citation analysis and a semantic content analysis. The results indicate that the CE literature body can be divided into management and technically-oriented studies that have either a beginning-of-life or an end-of-life focus. Recycling is the most referred to R-strategy, followed by remanufacturing, repair and reuse, which, however, occur one order of magnitude less frequently. CE research and SD were found to exhibit a subset relationship, as only a limited number of environmental aspects is directly addressed. Social aspects form a periphery. The qualitative analysis further portraits the conceptual evolution of the CE-SD relationship between 2000 and 2019 by following the citation network of the 30 most influential CE papers. The results contribute to positioning CE research within the general Sustainable Development debate and to identifying potential, sustainability-related shortcomings and blind spots.

The concept of circular economy has gained momentum in the political, scientific and economic debate in the last few years as a means to promote more sustainable production and consumption patterns in a growing economy. With the Circular Economy Package, the European Union has released an ambitious program that aims to guide the European economy towards a more circular economic system. However, concerns have been raised that circularity in itself does not guarantee environmentally sustainable outcomes. Therefore, in this research 131 projects from the Circular Economy Industry Platform (CEIP) are evaluated regarding their contribution to circular economy from both a scientific and political perspective. Content analysis was applied to derive qualitative and quantitative information from company statements on the platform. This was supplemented by qualitative, semi-structured interviews with company representatives on selected projects. Results showed a diverse approach to circularity across the sample projects, thereby partly expanding the sectoral focus of the circular economy package. Furthermore, eco-design, eco-innovation and business models acted as strong enablers for circular actions in the sample, reflecting respective EU policies. At the same time, sample projects heavily relied on recycling while missing out on potentially more efficient circular principles such as reduction or reuse. High diversity was found regarding the evaluation of overall environmental impacts, with some projects using purely qualitative assessment methods, while other projects presented elaborate quantitative environmental evaluations, including significant positive impact potential. Regulatory challenges were specifically reported regarding the introduction of sound circularity quotas and targets, regarding definitional ambiguities, as well as regarding issues around unknown material compositions that currently impede recirculation.

Supply chain management (SCM) increasingly needs to address both climate change mitigation and adaptation issues. While mitigation aims at sustainability by reducing the environmental impact of supply chains (SCs), adaptation entails improving resilience by increasing the ability to cope with climate-induced disruptions. Although sustainable SCM (SSCM) and resilient SCM (RSCM) are of increasing importance, there has been little effort to conceptually connect SSCM and RSCM. Our study explores the interconnections between both concepts by outlining theoretical elements and conducting a case study of four companies in the automotive SC based on company documents and interviews. Results show that SSCM is prioritised over RSCM. We furthermore highlight trade-offs and overlaps between the elements of SSCM and RSCM, which can be valuable for decision-makers, and introduce two enabling factors: transparency and diversity. We present a novel theoretical SCM framework that integrates both resilience and sustainability perspectives and make propositions for future research.