5.1.2 Objective 2: To investigate the impacts of sustainability and the Circular Economy on business models and innovation.
The investigation of these impacts included a range of business initiatives with some businesses focusing on undertaking more sustainable practices which delivered higher levels of value to its economic, societal and environmental responsibilities, such as Unilever (Unilever 2019). Other case studies demonstrated how business models had been adapted to become more sustainable, in terms of resource use, such as the closed loop recycling at Renault (Elllen MacArthur Foundation 2017ab). Both of these case studies revealed that there was a willingness and motivation to develop and change business models and to innovate to improve sustainable practices and to implement models such as the Circular Economy.
5.1.3 Objective 3: To evaluate the relationship between Sustainability and the Circular Economy.
This relationship can be seen as being context-specific to the organisation in terms of its strategic priorities and this is reflected in the business-friendly SDGs and the business focus of the Circular Economy (United Nations SDGs 2019; Pauli 2017). This relationship is seen as important for businesses to address, and for some researchers this is becoming more time sensitive given the scale and the urgency of the economic, societal and environmental challenges being faced (Lewis and Maslin 2018; George et al 2016). However, this relationship has a number of tensions including the perceived trade-offs between economic, societal and environmental factors and the concept of time (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Geissdoerfer et al 2017; Rockstrom et al 2009). Whilst there is a recognition of the need to undertake some form of activity, there are different levels of willingness and this may see sustainable practices being undertaken which may not use Circular Economy principles and vice versa. In this context, the relationship between sustainability and the Circular Economy maybe weaker or less defined. This relationship may therefore be different across a range of contexts, but these relationships can also demonstrate how a negative relationship between business activities and the impact of these on society and the environment can also become more positive (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Elllen MacArthur Foundation 2017a).
5.2 Research limitations
The research limitations include the lack of primary data which could have sought to gain a more detailed perspective of the relationship between sustainability and the Circular Economy by addressing issues such as the motivational factors for this. Another research limitation relates to the scope of the dissertation which has undertaken a snapshot of the current level of academic activity and business implementation in this area. Given the long-term view of sustainability and the Circular Economy, any future research may want to undertake a longitudinal approach to assess how the relationship between sustainability and the Circular Economy evolves and develop over time. This would also include addressing the time lags between innovations in sustainable practices and the implementation of these by businesses and any regulatory or political changes (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Trott 2017; Dobson 2016).
5.3 Future research areas
The future research areas include a number of potential areas. Firstly, further research is needed on the relationship between sustainability and the Circular Economy and this will need to address how this can be better understood to help support innovation in business models and supply chains to deliver higher levels of positive impacts and value for a greater number of stakeholders (Lewis and Maslin 2018; Mulvihill and Harris Ali 2017; Geissdoerfer et al 2017;
