Abstract
This paper analyses the strategies implemented by listed Spanish companies that are leaders in their industrial environments to inform shareholders and the public about their circular economy projects. It uses content and textual approaches through the factorial correspondence analysis of all the information about the circular economy presented on corporate websites. The analysis of the 17,510 resulting terms suggests that companies prioritise discourses about a sustainable future, their commitment to the proper use of resources and the reduction or elimination of greenhouse gases. The sectors most sensitive to institutional pressures, such as oil and energy companies, are more active in disclosing the problems and desired solutions of their projects.
Highlights
Our world is technologically and scientifically connected
The circular economy interconnects business cycles to maintain the value of products and services as long as possible, diminishes production costs by reducing the flow of materials, saves energy and is based on the idea that natural and social capital must be constantly renewed through multiple phases [1,2]
The results show that industrial strategies can be identified in circular economy (CE) disclosures, as they are broader and more detailed in companies that belong to the sectors most sensitive to institutional, especially coercive, pressures, such as the oil and energy industries
Summary
Our world is technologically and scientifically connected. We know that the industrial revolution has had very positive effects overall in the reduction of poverty and the improvement of well-being, but it has had negative effects, such as environmental degradation. Transition to the circular economy (CE) is a technical evolution from the linear production–consumption model. The NextGenerationEU Plan establishes circular transformation as one of the engines of a post-COVID-19 economic recovery through a package of measures (structural funds, research and innovation financing programmes and others). It is part of the Green Deal or the European Green Pact to help European businesses and consumers transition to a more sustainable economy and the Eurozone’s roadmap for designing strategic recovery and resilience plans for a green, digital and climate-resilient future [3]
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