Circular Economy Business Models, Value Creation and Humane Entrepreneurship: A Micro-Sized and Social Enterprise Perspective

Abstract The circular economy is currently championed across different quarters as a potential solution to contemporary and multiple sustainability challenges. Academically, the concept has witnessed a substantial increase in scholars’ interest. Yet the locus of current literature is mainly conceptual, and there is a dearth of contributions from business and management studies. Drawing on the circular business models and the nascent humane entrepreneurship literature, and an exemplary, micro-sized social enterprise, we find that circular business models generate multiple forms of social value beyond the creation of job opportunities only, and that they are characterised by a humane entrepreneurship orientation. As a result, we contribute to the limited literature on circular economy implementation and to the emerging literature at the intersection between entrepreneurship and the circular economy.