This paper explores how policy makers want a transition towards circular economy to look like and what solutions they visualize, with a focus on the why(?) arguments. By analyzing the discourse in states official roadmaps towards circular economy, this study forms an understanding for what motivates a transition. The findings show that the possibilities for economic gains and the creation of new markets are the main purpose to change. In addition to that, whenever the survivability of humanity and the environment was arguments for a change, it in almost all cases came back to the economical outsets with such transition, how much money can be gained/saved.

Circular economy is considered one of the most viable approaches to sustainability and it has gained a lot of traction in recent years. It challenges the linear approach to production and consumption that generates waste and is unsustainable for the planet and future generations. It is crucial to counteract the negative impacts of production on the environment by implementing new and effective business strategies that are compatible with circular economy. Nowadays, manufacturing industries are struggling to make the transition towards circularity because of the intrinsic complexity of adapting new business models, product development, production processes and supply chain management to a non-linear approach. The literature on the transition towards circular economy extensively covers the aspects connected to either one of the above-mentioned domain-specific areas, developing different tools such as roadmaps and frameworks to support companies in the transition for a specific area. Yet, there is a lack of a systematic tool that can give support in each stage of the process based on the different business areas that need to be adapted to circularity. The purpose of this study is to explore the existing state-of-the-art knowledge with a systematic and holistic approach to factors that are connected to circular economy, so to create a practical tool for facilitating the process of transitioning towards circularity in a step- by-step manner, in connection to activities and strategies that can be implemented in different business domains. An explorative case study in a manufacturing company in the construction equipment industry was carried out, with a twofold purpose: firstly, to gather, analyse and frame the existing state-of-the-art knowledge on the implementation of circular economy. Secondly, to explore the suggested multi readiness level model with the case study company in order to validate it. In order to do so, a set of ten semi-structured interviews with senior managers and experts in the field was carried out to gather valuable insights and practical knowledge. The outcome of this study is a multi-readiness level model for transitioning towards circular economy that explores the most important strategies and activities that should be implemented by a manufacturing company in four different areas of intervention, namely Ecosystem of External Partners, Customer and Business model, Company’s Culture and Internal Capabilities and Design and Product Development. Each area of intervention will be presented in connection to identified strategies and activities that must be implemented to reach circularity.

The construction industry is one of the most resource-intensive industries in the world, therefore, scientists, the industry and governments are pushing  for a transition to a Circular Economy (CE) within the industry to address this issue. This study explores the barriers to CE transition within the construction industry, examining how these barriers are perceived by practitioners and contrasting them with academic perspectives in the literature. The barriers identified in the literature were categorized via industrial transition theory based on the regime actors of the Multi-level perspective on transition framework by Geels & Schot (2007) and then aggregated via subcategories based on similarities in barrier definition presented in the literature. By interviewing 8 respondents, 28 barriers to CE transition were found within the categories and subcategories of data coding. The findings revealed that the industry is cautious about CE, which is impeding the drive for transition and affecting further perception and awareness of the concept. Furthermore, it is crucial to investigate barriers individually and how they are interconnected to others, as they collectively contribute to the low and slow progress of industrial transition toward CE in the construction industry.

This qualitative study investigates circular transition efforts in accommodation businesses through a cognitive lens. The circular economy has been proposed as a solution to the global problems of resource overuse and pollution. The tourism industries have been identified as critical contributors to a macroeconomic circular shift. However, even though literature on circularity in tourism exists, it mostly focuses on specific resources, guests’ pro-environmental behaviour, and barriers and drivers of circular transitions. Accordingly, there is a lack of research on the actors involved in circular transitions in tourism and their cognitive structures. Since past research has high- lighted the importance of stakeholders’ values for the success of sustainable transitions, this study analyses how sustainability managers in accommodation organisations frame their transition to circular plastic and other resource use. This study’s findings indicate that differences in cognitive structures were especially visible between respondents of organisations with different levels of progress in their circular transition. Particularly reduction and reuse of specific products were high- lighted by all respondents, while recycling was not as focused on as literature suggested. The respondents in organisations further along in their circular transition ex- plained that they viewed it as an economic, environmental, and social opportunity, while the other respondents viewed it mostly as an economic threat. Another point of differentiation seems to be the motivation for the organisational shift, with organisations in the beginning stages being more motivated by external pressures, while the other respondents primarily mentioned internal values. The respondents’ cognitive structures were specifically busy around the topic of collaboration, both internal and external. Overall, the cognitive maps of the respondents of organisations in successful circular transitions were more comprehensive than those of the other respondents and their underlying value system intrinsically linked with circular and sustainable issues.

There’s increasing evidence that activities from humans are affecting the earth system to a degree that is crossing the planetary boundaries. During the last decade, Circular Economy has gained attention from both academia, companies, and policymakers and is seen as one way to address economical and sustainability issues. A circular transition requires the implementation of innovative business models, but the uptake of circular business models is still slow. In Sweden, 99,9% of all companies are classified as small and medium-sized enterprises. Those companies play an important role in the circular transition, but the process is however slow due to internal factors like lack of resources and competencies alongside other barriers like regulations, market, and lack of support. Despite a lot happening in the field of circular transition for small and medium-sized enterprises, there's still little research focused on the ongoing state of circular economy in practice. In this exploratory study, semi-structured interviews have been used to explore the ongoing state in Sweden. The aim of the study is to explore how intermediaries are supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with adopting circular economy in Sweden and what kind of challenges and opportunities the intermediaries have experienced along the circular transition process. The results show that we should go beyond the general drivers and barriers for adopting a circular economy. The challenging barriers might not be a lack of resources and regulations, it might be the lack of awareness and interest from companies themselves. What became clear during the interview study was that the environmental benefits of adopting circular economy is not the driving force but rather a result of adopting circular economy. The motivation in the first place for adopting circular economy is that it can create a better and a smarter business. There was a consensus among the intermediaries that when one is workings with companies, one must highlight the business values of a circular economy: profitability, resource efficiency, loyal customers, etc. If companies don’t see the opportunities and benefits of adopting circular economy, they won’t prioritize and allocate resources for it. The complexity of a circular transition also requires collaboration on different levels: between companies, regions, business developers, municipalities, research institutes, policy developers, etc. To enable the overall collaboration, there’s a need for a comprehensive facilitator or coordinator on different levels (national, regional, and local) that can unify the national transition.

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