Recycling waste and upcycling people: a new type of environmentally-motivated social enterprise strategy

Abstract

With the use of a case study methodology, the socially responsible enterprise La Feuille d'Erable, based in north-west France, was analysed based upon the framework proposed by Boons and Ludeke-Freund (2013). Within an overarching green management philosophy, this firm incorporates a program for the integration of socially and economically excluded people into a recycling and upcycling business activity. Our findings suggest that success for social enterprises, that combine the dual aims of green production and inclusion of hitherto disadvantaged groups, under the banner of corporate social responsibility, is linked to several clearly identified factors. The previously proposed typology (Vickers and Lyon, 2014) of environmentally-motivated social enterprises' strategies is amended. Guidelines and insights are offered to managers who may wish to implement socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) techniques in their own organisations.