Exploratory Study on Circular Economy Approaches A Comparative Analysis of Theory and Practice

4.11 Case Iota 93

93

Ta b l e 15 Overview of circular economy approach of case Iota^3

Innovation Type Circular Economy Approach Organization

Iota

Product

Innovation

(Changes the

product)

Circular Supplies (e.g. creation of products which

are fully circulatable)

Resource recovery (e.g. creation of new products to

use up leftovers from the production line)

Remanufacturing (e.g. implementation of new

products which can be built from the reusable parts

of the original product)

(x)^3

Process

Innovation

(Changes the

process)

Circular Supplies (e.g. use of renewable energy for

the production line)

Organizational

Innovation

(Changes or adds

a business model)

Sharing Platform (e.g. enable customers to extend

the use of their products)

Product as a Service (e.g. sell the products access,

internalize the lifecycle management)

Product Life Extension (e.g. gather used products

and resell them if possible, replace certain parts of

the product)

x

4.11.2 Motivation to engage in Circular Economy

The organization was able to identify four different motivating factors which led

it to engage in the concept.

The first motivating factor is increased product quality through circularity. The

organization’s mission is to manufacture excellent products. Hence, the interviewee

sees it as part of his role to ensure that no toxic or environmental harmful material

is contained in the products the organization produces: “Environmental aspects

are dimensions of product quality. You can’t call it an excellent product when it

contains toxic material or a stupid piece of engineering which means you can never

do something with it again.” Furthermore, he sees it as his task to avoid designing

products in a way that they end up in landfill. Instead, he strives to facilitate the

ability to reuse and refurbish the product in its design phase.

The second driver for the organization in case Iota is the employees’ motivation

to do good. Many employees of the organization take part in outdoor sports and

3 X in brackets means that a certain business model is currently in test phase but not yet
fully implemented.