Co-creating a Vision and Roadmap for Circular Economy in the Food and Beverages Packaging Sector

Abstract

This paper describes a collaborative process engaging key stakeholders to co-create a shared vision for 2035 and a roadmap for action to support a circular economy transition in the packaging of the food and beverages sector in Portugal. Although the need to engage stakeholders is widely acknowledged, few collaborative initiatives can be found in the literature for scoping and visioning of circular economy strategies. Three main stages are broadly proposed to conduct a participatory scoping and visioning process, including the conduction of exploratory interviews and a collaborative visioning workshop supported by desk-based research. Engaging agents from across the value chain and from critical knowledge fields allowed to create a common understanding of major challenges, opportunities, and key circular strategies to implement towards a desired vision of the future. Five main areas of action were identified: innovation and research, new business models; eco-design; marketing and communication; and regulation and incentives. This work allowed to draw useful lessons for the sector: (i) there is a great potential of circularity in the food and beverages packaging sector; (ii) the engaged stakeholders have the will to continue collaborating. Regarding the proposed process: (i) a process of this nature allows the co-creation of a shared vision and the definition of a roadmap to achieve it and (ii) engaging stakeholders from all the value chain in structured discussions and collaborative exercises may contribute to promote social learning and knowledge co-creation. Some limitations can be pointed out; an important one is the dependency on stakeholders’ engagement, which could bring additional challenges when implementing a process of this nature. Although the process can be applied in different contexts and sectors, the obtained results are specific for this sector in the Portuguese context.