Learning from practices on circular business models: How do company’s characteristics affect its implemented circular business model?

The configuration of new circular business models (CBMs) is essential to enable a shift towards a circular economy (CE). A number of existing CE and CBM studies seem to have overlooked the analysis of CBM across industries and different stages in the value chain. Hence, we aim to reveal common and different CBMs across different industries; the relationship between CBMs, industries, and stages in the value chain; and how these aspects influence the implemented CBMs. To achieve the aims, sustainability reports of companies with high Environmental, Social, and Governance scores will be analysed using a text mining technique. Exploratory data analysis will be used to identify patterns of CBMs within and across industries and stages in the value chain. We expect to reveal diverse CBM strategies across various industries and stages in the value chain, beyond the most commonly described CBM in literature, such as product-as-a-service systems (PAAS) and recycling. We also expect to identify key actors and propose possible synergizing CBM strategies within and across industries through analyzing different stages in the value chain. The contribution of this paper is to help future research and practitioners realize the relationships among various CBMs, industries, and stages in the value chain as well as how they enhance circular economy, beyond recycling and PAAS