Consideration of the circular economy principles in the formation of enterprise business model

Abstract

The role of conceptual business model of an enterprise and its adaptability to the principles of the circular economy are investigated in this paper. It is determined that the idea of closed-loop economy is not new, but lately it has become popular due to political support of individual countries and international non-governmental organizations. In particular, in Germany, China and Japan the guidelines concerning circular economy are being developed at the national level. The main principles of the circular economy, which include the processes of recovery, sharing, optimization, cyclicality, virtualization and exchange, are investigated. It is clarified that, despite the growing interest of scientists and experts in the concept of circular economy, there are no standardized methods of its quantitative and qualitative measurement with the possibility of application at the enterprise level. Thus, comprehensive research on business models designing is required in order to stimulate and foster the circular economy implementation. The scientific papers on framework approaches to the circular economy resulting in the fresh perspective – the separation of economic growth from environmental wastes are analyzed. The stages of gradual introduction of circular economy paradigm implementation into practical activity, including processes of monitoring, estimation, actions at different levels of implementation are outlined. It is established that in the recent scientific works concerning closed-loop economy the framework for further circular economy implementation is reduced to the processes, materials and strategies, particularly to the consumer role. It is found out that any model can be both linear and circular describing the ability of the company to optimize its processes, virtualize products or delivery channels. The possibilities of applying the principles of circular economy to the Canvas business model by means of attracting additional blocks related to future availability of reverse logistics and the need for systematic approach for matching value proposition and customer segments, cost structure and revenue sources are summarized.