Implementation of Circular Economy Technologies: An Empirical Study of Slovak and Slovenian Manufacturing Companies

Juraj Šebo,Miriam Šebová,Iztok Palčič

doi:10.3390/su132212518

Juraj Šebo, Miriam Šebová + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212518

Copy DOI

Abstract

Circular Economy (CE) practices and technologies are essential for increasing sustainability performance in manufacturing. Due to the increasing number of environmental regulations and growing public awareness of environmental issues, especially in the EU, CE is increasingly seen as a valuable factor in improving competitiveness. Therefore, there is a need for a fuller understanding of the ways in which CE technologies can be implemented into the manufacturing industries. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the identification of the characteristics of manufacturing companies and their perceptions of the barriers to the adoption of CE technologies. This survey-based study of 241 manufacturing companies (comprising a sub-sample of Slovak and Slovenian companies from the more extensive European Manufacturing Survey) uses a series of statistical tests to examine the implementation of three CE technologies. The results show that there is significant relationship between the adoption of CE technologies in manufacturing companies and their size, location, R&D activities, company age and product batch size. Finally, the research reveals the surprising finding that there is no apparent link between the perception of CE barriers and the plans of companies to implement selected CE technologies.

Highlights

IntroductionThe concept of Circular Economy (CE), a novel economic model which aims to foster sustainable economic growth, boost global competitiveness, and generate new jobs, is attracting growing interest across many sectors of the economy [1]
In terms of NACE, the results show that the only statistically significant relationship is that between NACE and “water recycling” technology, with this technology being implemented in a significantly higher percentage of medium-low-tech companies in comparison to low-tech companies
The performance of R&D in the company has a relationship to the implementation of two of the three Circular Economy (CE) technologies (“water recycling” and “remanufacturing”), while in both cases, these technologies are implemented in significantly higher percentage of companies that perform R&D activities

Summary

Introduction

The concept of Circular Economy (CE), a novel economic model which aims to foster sustainable economic growth, boost global competitiveness, and generate new jobs, is attracting growing interest across many sectors of the economy [1]. As Stahel has noted [3], CE focuses on the optimization of utilization and exploits resource efficiency in addition to leveraging sufficiency and prevention options in order to gain financial advantages and achieve higher levels of competitiveness. In order to maintain competitiveness, the presence of barriers forces the implementation of circularity to be gradual and combine both linear and circular models [4]. The need to address material flow complexities (such as demand variations or company appearance and disappearance) and dependencies (decisions taken both and in the future) limits the availability of practical options for optimizing material cycles in the economy [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion