Implementing circular economy principles: evidence from multiple cases

With an orientation on sustainability and economic growth, the concept of circular economy (CE) emerges to tackle socio-environmental challenges. Current literature has provided important frameworks from CE operations and business model perspectives. However, in practice, companies are still facing the challenges of insufficient knowledge, lack of standard procedure, and resource constraint. Thus, this paper aims to answer the research questions: how can companies effectively implement CE principles in their operations? And how can such implementation result in value creation such as new products or service solutions? Through conducting seven case studies mainly in Wales, UK, our paper identifies the key activities of CE implementation projects, proposes a holistic process model, and further addresses three different CE scenarios. Our study contributes to the understanding of CE process and circular business models with empirical evidence. Findings can provide future research direction as well as implication for business and policy makers.