Abstract
Economic growth is the mandate of the global economy and with our planet’s population poised to reach 10 billion people, economists are searching for sustainable economic growth approaches that do not increase raw materials consumption nor deplete and damage our environment. This mandate is the heart of the Circular Economy (CE), a challenge to theoreticians and practitioners alike to continue global economic growth, but with fewer resources and protective methods for our environment. The European Union (EU) economies were early adopters of CE and are now demanding similar adoptions from its recently integrated members from the East. Romania is one of the laggard states in this transition, given its heritage and lack of economic sophistication. Our paper identifies the practices and performance of Romanian producers regarding the implementation of the CE principles, so future recommendations can be formulated. In surveying the Romanian firms, we applied a cluster analysis based on their level of green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) practices. The respondents were grouped into two clusters: “low green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) scorers” and “high green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) scorers’. The results suggest that cluster membership partially influence CE practices and fully influence CE-targeted performance.
Highlights
The concept of circular economy (CE) has been around for almost half a century
Our specific objectives were to identify: (1) the practices pertaining to the collaboration of manufacturers with their suppliers and customers regarding the green supply chain; (2) internal activities and practices related to the eco-design of products and ecological management; (3) the level of ecological and economic performance accomplished as a result of the adoption of CE principles
Based on the literature review outlined far and considering the above-mentioned research objectives we proposed the following hypotheses: hypothesis 1 (H1): There is a positive correlation between the implementation of the CE practices and higher levels of green-oriented supply chain cooperation (GSCC) practices among Romanian producers
Summary
The concept of circular economy (CE) has been around for almost half a century. it failed to capture sufficient interest to become a strategic priority, despite the attractiveness of its benefits and the generosity of its desideratum. In the current context of global ecological transformations and under the pressure of the recent global financial crisis, the innovative idea of regenerative design, initially launched by Lyle in the 1970s during the energy crisis and further developed under the conceptual idea of sustainability [1,2], is back in vogue. An overview of the CE strategies that currently exist worldwide reveals that the European Union (EU), the United States, China, and Japan developed their own CE plans [4]. At the European Union (EU) level, the conversion towards a CE represents both a commitment to the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and the opportunity to alter the member economies closer to stated EU priorities such as employment, economic growth, climate conservation, and energy efficiency [5]. In 2015 the European Commission (EC) adopted an ambitious transformative plan with profound implications for all member economies [6]. One of the key features of this plan targets industrial producers of goods that utilize substantial packaging materials in their supply chain which were traditionally wasted, generating negative implications for the environment [5,6]
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