58 4 Case Description and Within-Case Analysis
clothes repair issues and how to take care of their product i.e. water and stain
repellant to ensure it has a long life.
4.3.2 Motivation to engage in Circular Economy
Since its formation in 1973, the company’s vision has been ‘to use’ the organization
to inspire others to save and foster the environment. No harm should be done to
the environment through their production process or products. This vision drives
case Alpha’s commitment to sustainability. The motivation is a very personal one
and stems from the company founders love of the environment. The founder and
all of his employees were and still are outdoor athletes at the time the organization
was founded. Since it was in nature that they performed their sports this instilled
in them the need to protect the environment in which they practiced and played
their sports. The interviewee states: “Well at the time the company was formed all
of us were outdoor athletes so we were committed to the protection of the outdoors
which is where we did our sports.”
Organization Alpha’s founder and employees were spurred into action by aconflict that arose with the city council regarding a development project right be-
hind the organization’s office. The city council proposed a project to straighten the
city’s river in a way that would have destroyed all wildlife. One citizen’s decision to
protest against the city council and draw attention to the consequences for wildlife
and nature led to the termination of the project. Furthermore, it encouraged the
founder to support both individual and non-profit organizations working to protect
the environment and conserve biodiversity.
It is interesting to note that organization Alpha did not mention any commercialmotivation for its commitment to circular economy.
4.3.3 Challenges for the Implementation
With implementing such a comprehensive circular economy approach the organi-
zation has encountered several challenges.
The first challenge is the lack of customer education which the organizationdiscovered through their recycling initiative. Since 2008, all company-own stores
offer a service whereby they take back used clothes for recycling purposes. Although
this initiative has been running for approximately six years, its take-up by custom-
ers is low. Approximately 1 percent of the recycled polyester used in production
could be provided through this activity. The reason for this low participation is,