An Exploratory Circular Economy Management Framework for Plastic Recycling SMEs: A Process Reengineering Approach for Sustainability

The transition toward a circular economy (CE) in the plastic recycling sector requires integrated management frameworks that align technical performance with organizational governance. This study proposes an exploratory diagnostic framework for formalized recycling SMEs, integrating Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Random Forest (RF) algorithms. Given the specialized nature of the sector, a purposive sample of 16 ‘pioneer’ SMEs in Bogotá was analyzed. Data were standardized through a 5-point ordinal scale, and the Spearman rank correlation analysis (ρ≥0.85) revealed high internal consistency and structural synchronization. This high correlation reflects the operational homogeneity of the analyzed vanguard rather than a universal statistical claim. The findings suggest that, for these leading firms, circularity is driven by social impact, collaborative networks, and systemic process reengineering. Consequently, the proposed framework is presented as an exploratory diagnostic tool tailored to the specific structural characteristics of formalized recycling SMEs, providing a methodological basis for understanding circularity within this specialized niche.