Circular Economy in Practice: The Benefits of Collaboration for Securing Material Flow in a US Study

Purpose—This paper aims to describe an amiable approach of addressing challenges to transitioning to a circular economy through collaboration and knowledge sharing between different partners. Design/methodology/approach—The design science research methodology is used to identify the problem of the circular economy, suggest solutions, develop a usable artefact based on gathered user feedback interviews (n = 15) with US recyclers and industry experts. Findings—There are two main approaches to navigating the circular economy, soft and hard methods. Hard methods include investing in digitalization and newer technologies to improve one’s processes. However, these methods require an initial capital investment and high operation costs, which can deter many SMEs. Soft methods on the other hand, include methods such as collaboration and sharing of knowledge. These methods require no initial investments, but rather rely on the use of learning from partners to improve their processes and gather data to evaluate internal structures. These soft methods are explained in detail and an artefact has been developed to showcase these approaches. Business and social implications—This article furthers ideas of the circular economy regarding collaboration to identify the right sourcing partner. This is of growing importance to meet regulatory requirements of increasing recycling quotas on specific materials like secondary plastic. Originality/value—The developed artefacts of material sheet and utility analysis tools improve the transparency of reusable material flows. It has been proven for a global producer of reusable plastic packaging solutions operating in the US with state-specific recycling content requirements. It provides a decision-framework to secure sourcing of secondary plastic to acceptable costs, CO2 reduction/sustainability and partner’s fit.