Collaborations for circular food waste management in Italian fish manufacturing firms: A resource dependence perspective

This paper aims to shed light on supply chain collaborations in circular economy for food waste prevention and management. The exploratory study adopts a multiple case study research design on a sample of two polar cases: a small enterprise and a large company in the Italian manufacturing industry of fishery products. Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) allows for an understanding of the mechanisms of circular supply chains, describing strategic motivators of collaborations for circular economy, and overall provides a novel perspective on food waste prevention and management. This study highlights how companies develop in-house solutions when the food waste streams are moderate but rely on collaborations when the streams are conspicuous, thus, the need to implement circular economy solutions fosters collaborations. The findings provide a novel perspective on collaborations in circular economy; furthermore, RDT offers a novel conceptualization of food waste management practices, highlighting the suitability of further applying RDT to this field of study. • We explore how circular economy (CE) fosters collaboration for food waste management • We apply RDT to assess the mechanisms and motivations for CE collaborations • Firms engage in bridging strategies instead of buffering as waste volumes increase • Limited resources push small companies to start collaboration earlier than large ones • Legitimacy and simplification are key benefits driving CE collaborations’ success