Circularity Practices in Manufacturing—A Study of the 20 Largest Manufacturing Companies in Sweden

Abstract

AbstractIn line with the accelerating global warming crisis, the concept of circular economy (CE), wherein the utilization and lifetimes of resources and materials are maximised, has gained a significant increase in attention. For manufacturing companies, adapting to a CE is particularly important due to high CO2-e emissions. In order to increase the knowledge regarding how manufacturing companies have adapted to a CE, sustainability reports wherein the companies themselves report upon their circularity practices can be examined. This study has aimed at investigating the publicly available sustainability reports of the 20 largest manufacturing companies in Sweden, with the purpose of identifying which, and on what level of implementation, circularity practices are mentioned. The 10R framework was used as a foundation for categorizing and analysing the identified circularity practices. The findings in this study include a total of 38 unique circularity practices, whereas 13 are categorized as visioned or planned, and 36 are categorized as ongoing or already realised circularity practices. The circularity practices were primarily related to reducing, reusing, and recycling. Suggestions of further research include elaborately describing the circularity practices as well as further exploring the implementation of repairing, refurbishing and remanufacturing amongst manufacturing companies.KeywordsCircularityCircularity practicesCircular economyManufacturingSustainability