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

(Rick Simeone) #1
97

5 Result of Analysis and Interpretations


5 Result of Analysis and Interpretations


This chapter presents, interprets, and discusses the results from the analysis


across all cases. Consequently, each chapter addresses one of the three research


questions. Chapter 5.1 displays the ways in which the circular economy concept


is implemented, chapter 5.2 focuses on the impacts the organizations derive from


the implementation of the concept, and chapter 5.3 investigates the challenges the


organizations face during and/or after the implementation.


5.1 Implementation of the Circular Economy Concept


5.1 Implementation of the Circular Economy Concept


This chapter illustrates the empirical results of how circular economy is implemented


in practice. For that purpose a framework with seven circular economy approaches


has been developed previously in this thesis and applied to all cases. Using the


framework ensured a well-structured analysis process of the implementation


approaches and supported their comparability. However, comparability between


cases remains difficult in this case study because the described approaches of the


organizations to circular economy highly differ. The circular economy concept is


quite unspecific regarding its concrete implementation. It is more an inspirational


source for organizations to change their business in order to decouple resource


consumption from economic growth. Hence, the following chapter is a first step


towards a deeper understanding of circular economy.


5.1.1 Multiple Possibilities for Implementation


How is the circular economy concept implemented? Empirical data of this case


study shows that no two cases have the exact same implementation approach.


© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2018
L. Frodermann, Exploratory Study on Circular EconomyApproaches,
Wirtschaftsethik in der globalisierten Welt, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-21949-9_5

Free download pdf