5.2 Impacts of Circular Economy Implementation on Organizations 103
103
The within-case analysis already revealed that implementation of circular econo-
my can have both positive as well as negative impacts for the organizations. These
can be separated into monetary impacts and other impacts which are not primary
monetary as displayed in the following sections. Figure 5 provides an overview of
the identified results from the empirical data of this study.
The next chapter is structured as following: first, empirical findings on monetary
as well as non-monetary impacts are outlined, and later, a detailed comparison
depicts the differences between findings of this study and in existing literature as
well as an attempt to explain the differences.
5.2.1 Monetary Aspects of Circular Economy
Since more and more organizations engage in circular economy practices, it seems
obvious that positive impacts outweigh the negative ones. However, the data reveals
that the financial aspect of such a commitment is neither clearly negative nor positive.
Therefore, the financial aspect is elaborated in this chapter in order to reveal both
sides of the investment. Table 17 provides an overview of the monetary aspects and
their impact on businesses, which will be described in more detail in the following.
Table 17 List of monetary sub-categories and their effect on businesses
# Monetary Impact Monetary Sub-Category Effect
1 Costs Circulatable Material
Costs
negative/positive
2 Costs R&D Costs negative
3 Revenue Acquisition of new Cus-
tomers
positive
4 Revenue Sale of Refurbished
Products
positive
5.2.1.1 Monetary Impact: Costs
5.2.1.1.1 Sub-Category 1: Circulatable Material Costs
The first monetary effect is the augmented costs for recycled material. This is the
aspect with the most coded statements from the interviews which might give an
indication of the importance for the organizations. The higher prices for recycled
materials play an important role, especially in cases from the textile industry, but