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output with the same amount of input. The organization’s motivation to engage in
the circular economy concept is to increase output with the same amount of input.
Another driver for the organization is the expected competitive advantage. Theinterview partner stated that many companies are pursuing sustainability and that
incremental improvements in efficiency happen almost naturally in the industry
in which they operate. However, investing in circular economy and close loop
production processes is something relatively new in the industry and may bring
‘the required change’ to achieve stability in prices and a competitive advantage.
4.10.3 Challenges for the Implementation
Although case Theta is at the very beginning of its circular economy transformation
some challenges have already been identified by the interview partner.
The main challenge for the organization is creating a business case for circulareconomy, as described by the interviewee: “Something which is currently intan-
gible.” Decisions in case Theta are made based on the economic evaluation of an
investment. A convincing business case has to be presented to the leadership in
order to justify the enormous investments that come with implementing the cir-
cular economy approach. The organization has formed partnerships and pursued
joint ventures in order to bring capabilities in house. These have been necessary to
implement the circular economy approach, however, it was unclear how much more
output can be generated by the cooperation to justify the investment.
The second challenge encountered is unprofessional research within the in-dustry. This leads to wrong conclusions which in turn result in the formulation of
bad policies. The company representative paraphrased it as follows: “Research and
development is just that. Things will fail. Fishing is not catching.” The interviewee
believes that this challenge will not go away in the future. Since circular econo-
my is an important concept for the industry, policies are needed to support the
implementation of this concept on a larger scale. Only if research is undertaken
properly can circular economy be adequately supported by laws, other governmental
regulations or industry policies etc..
4.10.4 Economic Impacts
Both motivating factors are also identified as potential economic benefits for the
organization. The first impact is cost savings achieved through increased output but
with the same amount of input. By partnering with other organizations, case Theta