Our paper intends to investigate the nexus of circular economy (CE) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the synergies between the two concepts at micro level, that is, firm level. In the chapter, the authors intend to perform a case study on FaterSMART, a firm that developed a technology for converting Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHPs) wastes into recyclable materials under a Circular Economy (CE) approach, after presenting a literature review on the intersection between CE and sustainable development goals (SDGs). Some recent literature has documented that practices of CE that are integral to many international strategies and agreements affect the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations (UN) and, also at political level, the linkage between CE and SDGs has been underlined (European Commission. Next steps for a sustainable European future: European action for sustainability. 2016. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016DC0739&from=EN, 2016; European Commission. Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/rp_sustainable_europe_30-01_en_web.pdf, 2019). The chapter aims to contribute to the literature at the intersection between CE and SDGs, showing how a business operating under a CE approach could contribute to fulfilling the SDGs, and which SDGs are most searched for and disclosed. In other words, organizations have the means to make societies more sustainable and advance the Sustainable Development Agenda by contributing to the SDGs through their strategies and operation; until now, there has been limited integration of the SDGs in organization systems and in the chapter, we aimed at analyzing how the organization object of our case study has been addressing the SDGs. Although the SDGs were designed by the government for the government, our research shows that FaterSMART can contribute directly to some of the SDGs (namely 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12). Therefore, the discourse must change from the integration of SDGs on organizations to the FaterSMART. In turn, it opens up new management scenarios related to the contribution that organizations can provide to the SDGs and hopefully the case findings will stimulate further research into other organizations with CE business models.

The Contribution of Implementing Circular Economy to the Sustainable Development Goals: Findings from a Case Study

Stefania Veltri
;
Pina Puntillo;
2024-01-01

Abstract

Our paper intends to investigate the nexus of circular economy (CE) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the synergies between the two concepts at micro level, that is, firm level. In the chapter, the authors intend to perform a case study on FaterSMART, a firm that developed a technology for converting Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHPs) wastes into recyclable materials under a Circular Economy (CE) approach, after presenting a literature review on the intersection between CE and sustainable development goals (SDGs). Some recent literature has documented that practices of CE that are integral to many international strategies and agreements affect the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations (UN) and, also at political level, the linkage between CE and SDGs has been underlined (European Commission. Next steps for a sustainable European future: European action for sustainability. 2016. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016DC0739&from=EN, 2016; European Commission. Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/rp_sustainable_europe_30-01_en_web.pdf, 2019). The chapter aims to contribute to the literature at the intersection between CE and SDGs, showing how a business operating under a CE approach could contribute to fulfilling the SDGs, and which SDGs are most searched for and disclosed. In other words, organizations have the means to make societies more sustainable and advance the Sustainable Development Agenda by contributing to the SDGs through their strategies and operation; until now, there has been limited integration of the SDGs in organization systems and in the chapter, we aimed at analyzing how the organization object of our case study has been addressing the SDGs. Although the SDGs were designed by the government for the government, our research shows that FaterSMART can contribute directly to some of the SDGs (namely 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12). Therefore, the discourse must change from the integration of SDGs on organizations to the FaterSMART. In turn, it opens up new management scenarios related to the contribution that organizations can provide to the SDGs and hopefully the case findings will stimulate further research into other organizations with CE business models.
2024
978-3-031-66007-8
Circular economy; SDGs; case study
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11770/375977
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact