Is the circular economy the answer to creating responsible and productive firms? Evidence from remanufacturing businesses

The circular economy has been highlighted as an essential concept in the pursuit of a more sustainable and responsible society. It involves circulating materials for as long as possible through the application of principles such as reducing, reusing, remanufacturing, and recycling. Despite its growing importance in the agenda of several nations across the world, governments try to balance it with concerns over productivity and post-Covid economic growth. In this context of competing agendas, we aimed to investigate whether the circular economy, and specifically remanufacturing, can be the answer to create businesses that are simultaneously productive and sustainable. Specifically, we empirically investigated the mechanisms involved in how remanufacturing affects the productivity of eight companies. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, and subsequently analysed using NVivo and the causal loop diagram technique. We aim to share the results of our original study with the BAM community in the conference in September.