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Insights about the interplay between business models of an enterprise and policies by governments in a circular economy (CE) context are limited. To fill the gap, this paper aims to analyse and learn from the interplays reported in the literature beyond the CE context. It focuses on product/service system (PSS) business models, and uses a systematic literature review. Six types of policies and nine components of a PSS business model are introduced in the analysis. Results show that frequently observed types of interplays are regulatory policies versus value proposition, revenue model, and cost model; economic policies versus revenue model and cost model. On the other hand, rarely reported types are the interplays with three types of polices co-regulation, information-based, and agreement-based policies. Future research includes broadening the scope in order to get a more complete picture as well as relating the proposed approach to the current EU context.

In the field of Ecodesign, in which the answers to the questions of "why", "what", and "how" have been largely studied in the past, the lack of implementation in industry remains an issue. The literature lacks insights into the "how" question combined with "who" for ecodesign implementation. The aim of this paper is to propose a concept for a knowledge holder, called a lifecycle engineer, with specific knowledge that can support a team or organization in the ecodesign process for its more effective implementation. This is achieved first by a literature review using a set of constructs derived from theories of engineering design and transdisciplinary research. Second, by consulting the results from the literature review and the proposal of a lifecycle engineer, through semi-structured interviews, with practitioners from the manufacturing sector. The analysis of the semi-structured interviews shows that the relevant knowledge includes lifecycle analysis, materials and their selection, energy efficiency, legislation, and management. This knowledge was complemented by skills that practitioners thought of as relevant for effective implementation. Moreover, the proposal of a lifecycle engineer, according to most practitioners, was found to be useful. The advantages of a lifecycle engineer include having more focus on ecodesign and the availability of information and staff to drive changes. Caveats include clear benefits against investment for the company, especially for smaller ones, and enough tasks for full-time employment. ; Funding agencies: Mistra REES (Resource-Efficient and Effective Solutions) program - Mistra (the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) [DIA 2014/16]

Governmental policies and business models are considered key elements for a transition to a circular economy. In current literature, there is a lack of understanding on how these two elements interact and how this understanding is used to accelerate the realisation of a circular economy. We shed light on this issue by conducting a systematic review of the literature in combination with a literature synthesis that looked in particular at interactions between governmental policies and business models not limited to a circular economy. We systematised the findings and then applied them to a circular economy context. The results show that there is a multitude of possible interactions between governmental policies and business models. The most commonly studied interaction is between command-and-control regulations and the value proposition element of business models. Soft policy measures like information- or communication-based policies or support mechanisms are less studied. Other findings suggest that there are certain types of dynamics which are useful to understand for policymakers and business model designers alike. A few examples of the synthesised insights are i) entrepreneurs may optimise their circular business models to exploit the policy framework, ii) technologies may lead to circular business model innovation forcing policymakers to adapt, and iii) policymakers may pay special attention to the needs of circular business models and support their competitiveness. ; Funding agencies: Circular European Economy Innovative Training Network (Circcuit) - European Commission [721909]; Mistra REES (Resource Efficient and Effective Solutions) program - Mistra (The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) [2014/16]

For todays transformation towards a circular and resource-efficient economy, an understanding is needed of how changes in socio-technical systems affect resource efficiency (RE). This paper suggests an approach to analyse the RE of socio-technical systems and the related Product-Service Systems (PSSs). A conceptual framework consisting of elements of business models, governmental policies and product and service design is developed. Laundry practices in Sweden serve as the context for a case study. The results indicate that asset sharing is most resource-efficient to facilitate domestic laundry practices, followed by PSSs and individual ownership coming last. This type of analysis helps to understand the role of PSS for RE. Future research focuses on dynamic modelling of socio-technical systems and their impact on RE. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Strategies for sustainable development are arguably part of the most discussed issues among political and corporate actors. These discussions are spurred by global challenges such as climate change, urbanization, and critical natural resource depletion. Sustainable development will require deep structural and wide-reaching changes in current institutions, technologies, and businesses. Furthermore, new approaches are needed to facilitate the development, diffusion, and implementation of environmental technologies. In the academic discourse different concepts, e.g., ecodesign and Product/Service System design, have been proposed within the framework of sustainable development. To deliver even more system-wide environmental improvements, these concepts have been challenged to be expanded in focus beyond products and services to include large technical systems encompassing non-technological dimensions. Motivated by these, the goal of this article is twofold. First, to offer an expanded view on ecodesign of product/service systems using a perspective of large technical systems. Second, to propose and discuss important components to consider when developing business concepts for the diffusion of large scaled environmental technology systems such as district heating supply, waste management, and renewable energy systems. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews and company documentation analysis, this study examines five companies that develop and diffuse large scaled environmental technology systems. As a result of these case studies, we propose components of business concepts that incorporate both technological and non-technological dimensions. Our proposed business concept components are: market (including regulation), finance, resources, activities, partnership (especially public-private partnership), ownership and responsibility, and legitimacy. Regulation, public-private partnership, and legitimacy are particularly important in the diffusion of large scaled environmental technology systems. ; Funding agencies: We are grateful to Tekniska Verken's Industrial Ecology Research Programme for their financial support to undertake this study as part the BMEX project (Business Models for Market Expansion of Swedish Municipal Companies). We also want to express our sincere gratitude to the interviewees for making time to participate in the interviews. Special thanks also go to Sahar Sadri of Linkoping University for taking part in conducting the interviews. ; BMEX project

In recent years, strategies for sustainable development are arguably among the most discussed issues among political, public and corporate actors. These discussions are spurred by major trends such as climate change, rapid urbanization, critical material and energy resource depletion. To facilitate sustainable development, deep structural and wide reaching changes seem needed in current technologies, infrastructure, businesses and institutions. In the academic discourse, different concepts, methods and tools, have been proposed and continue to be expounded within the framework of sustainable development. Notable among them include the concepts of ecodesign, and product and service systems design. These concepts have contributed to environmental improvements but have been challenged by critics to be expanded beyond products and services to include non-technological changes in order to deliver system wide environmental improvements. Departing from this background, the goal of this article is twofold, first to offer an expanded view on environmental conscious design of products and services with large scaled sociotechnical systems and then to propose and discuss important components to consider when developing business concepts based on large scaled environmental technology systems. In doing this, we offer a new way of describing business concepts based on large scaled environmental technology systems which incorporates non-technological dimensions such as meeting formal and informal expectations. We propose a set of components to consider when developing business concepts based on large scaled environmental technology offering. These components are: market (including regulations), finance, resources, activities, partnership (especially public-private partnership), ownership and responsibility, and legitimacy. Among these factors, regulation, public-private partnership, and legitimacy were found as particular for environmental technology diffusion. ; BMEX (Business models for market expansion of Swedish municipal environmental technologies)

Due to customer pressure and growing competition, industrial companies are increasingly moving towards providing integrated offerings of products and services (PSS). Despite this trend, literature providing a deep understanding of the challenges associated with this transition is limited, while publications discussing approaches that focus on overcoming these challenges are particularly lacking. This article is based on a multi-case study of two Swedish industrial companies undergoing the transition to designing and providing PSS. It reports on the challenges identified at the case companies as well as opportunities arising from and solutions to these challenges. Subsequent to initial research on the challenges, prescriptive approaches such as a life cycle costing method and a PSS design method were applied in the case companies over an extended time frame. On the one hand, these prescriptive approaches provided both a deeper understanding of the challenges, which include a persistent product centred mindset, a lack of adjustment to changed incentive structures and the separation of product and service design. On the other hand, they also led to effective solutions such as focusing on customer value and introducing a PSS transition facilitator for the design team. These solutions were adapted to the situations in the respective companies and they partly went beyond the prescriptive measures first introduced. Therefore, the article shows the applicability of prescriptive approaches and methods to detect, understand and alleviate the challenges of PSS design and provision. Further, the article provides broadly applicable learning for industrial companies undergoing this process. ; Funding agencies: Mistra REES (Resource Efficient and Effective Solutions) programme - Mistra (The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) [2014/16]; programme for Strategic Innovation - Vinnova (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems)

The transition to a resource efficient economy that makes effective use of raw materials and energy is a multi-level dynamic process requiring a wide systems perspective. To operationalize this transition in a holistic manner, the concept of Circular Economy (CE) has been championed by major economies around the world. The idea with CE is to strive towards maximizing the utilization of products, components and materials and their embedded material value throughout the economy, generating the lowest possible amount of loss and waste in relation to the obtained value. This contribution presents the main elements for a transition roadmap towards CE in the Swedish manufacturing sector. This paper presents (i) a baseline of resource efficiency operations in Sweden and existing strategies for CE transition in the EU; (ii) outlines major areas of opportunity for the Swedish manufacturing sector to innovate and create resource efficient and effective solutions; (iii) identifies a variety of stakeholders that are required to intervene in different levels (local/regional/national/international, as well as public/private), scales and timeframes; and (iv) presents a comprehensive set of actions and policies, including monitoring and evaluation, as a direct recommendation to political and business actors in Sweden. Finally, milestones are defined and a timeframe for the roadmap is proposed.

The circular economy (CE) can drive sustainability. For companies to select and implement circularity strategies, they need to evaluate and compare the performance of these strategies both in terms of progress towards CE but also based on their feasibility and business outcomes. However, evaluation methods for circularity strategies at the product level are lacking. Therefore, this research proposes a multi-criteria evaluation method of circularity strategies at the product level which can be used by business decision-makers to evaluate and compare the initial business of the company, transformative and future circularity strategies. This multi-criteria evaluation method aims to assist business decision-makers to identify a preferred strategy by linking together a wide variety of criteria, i.e., environmental, economic, social, legislative, technical, and business, as well as by proposing relevant indicators that take into consideration, where possible, the life cycle perspective. It also allows for flexibility so that criteria, sub-criteria, and weighing factors can be altered by the business decision-makers to fit the needs of their specific case or product. Two illustrative examples based on case companies are presented to verify and illustrate the proposed method. ; Funding Agencies|Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network

International audience ; The circular economy (CE) can drive sustainability. For companies to select and implement circularity strategies, they need to evaluate and compare the performance of these strategies both in terms of progress towards CE but also based on their feasibility and business outcomes. However, evaluation methods for circularity strategies at the product level are lacking. Therefore, this research proposes a multi-criteria evaluation method of circularity strategies at the product level which can be used by business decision-makers to evaluate and compare the initial business of the company, transformative and future circularity strategies. This multi-criteria evaluation method aims to assist business decision-makers to identify a preferred strategy by linking together a wide variety of criteria, i.e., environmental, economic, social, legislative, technical, and business, as well as by proposing relevant indicators that take into consideration, where possible, the life cycle perspective. It also allows for flexibility so that criteria, sub-criteria, and weighing factors can be altered by the business decision-makers to fit the needs of their specific case or product. Two illustrative examples based on case companies are presented to verify and illustrate the proposed method.

International audience ; The circular economy (CE) can drive sustainability. For companies to select and implement circularity strategies, they need to evaluate and compare the performance of these strategies both in terms of progress towards CE but also based on their feasibility and business outcomes. However, evaluation methods for circularity strategies at the product level are lacking. Therefore, this research proposes a multi-criteria evaluation method of circularity strategies at the product level which can be used by business decision-makers to evaluate and compare the initial business of the company, transformative and future circularity strategies. This multi-criteria evaluation method aims to assist business decision-makers to identify a preferred strategy by linking together a wide variety of criteria, i.e., environmental, economic, social, legislative, technical, and business, as well as by proposing relevant indicators that take into consideration, where possible, the life cycle perspective. It also allows for flexibility so that criteria, sub-criteria, and weighing factors can be altered by the business decision-makers to fit the needs of their specific case or product. Two illustrative examples based on case companies are presented to verify and illustrate the proposed method.

Due to government policies and regulations as well as customer and societal demands, organizations around the world are looking for ways to manage their economic, environmental and social sustainability. One of the most frequently used standards for organizations seeking to manage their environmental responsibilities is ISO 14001. This framework, however, is generic because it can be used by any organization irrespective of sector, activity or core values. Therefore, implementation of generic guidelines might result in the use of alternative tools that respond better to specific organizational needs and that provide outcomes that can be useful for decision-making. Through case study methodology, this paper shows how Volvo Group, a world-leading producer of transport solutions, developed an internal environmental evaluation tool called Environmental Screening (EnvS) to improve the environmental performance of its solutions.