The DOI matches its Crossref record; 58 of the 58 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Circular Business Models: Defining a Concept and Framing an Emerging Research Field
Open accessAbstract
To aid companies in transitioning towards a circular economy and adopting strategies such as reuse, repair, and remanufacturing, the concept of circular business models has been developed. Although the concept draws on contributions from various academic disciplines, and despite its increasingly frequent use, few scholars clearly define what a circular business model is. Understanding about what makes a business model circular is diverse, hampering the theoretical development and practical application of circular business models. This study aims to help frame the field of circular business model research, by clarifying the fundamentals of the concept from the perspectives of resource efficiency and business model innovation. Expanding on these findings, a review of how the concept is used in recent academic literature is provided. It shows that a coherent view is lacking on which resource efficiency strategies classify a business model as circular. This study clarifies which resource efficiency strategies can be deemed as relevant key strategies for circular business models, and suggests a new definition of the concept. With the definition grounded in analysis of the fundamentals in terms of resource efficiency and business models, the study contributes to theoretical advancement and effective implementation of circular business models.
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“Product-service systems (PSSs) are often outlined as potential enablers of new business models for circular economy.”
From Configuring New Business Models for Circular Economy through Product–Service Systems (2019) · cites this paper as [10]
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Business models, business strategy and innovation
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Jepsen, D., Zimmermann, T., Hauschke, F., Tebert, C., & Deckelmann, S. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-46549-0_4
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Sustainable Business Models: Bridging Theory and Practice Through an Integrative Conceptual Review
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Queiroz, F. C. B. P., Queıroz, J. V., da Silva, C. L., Guerra, J., & Reis, B. (2026) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su182110717
Azhar, N., & Steuer, B. (2026) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.149683
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Metadata
- Authors
- Nußholz, J.
- Affiliations
- Lund University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Nußholz, Julia
- ORCID
- Nußholz, Julia
- Venue
- Sustainability
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2017-10-10
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1810
- ISSN
- 2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2761793726
- Cited by
- 415
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 15
- FWCI
- 48.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Stiftelsen för Miljöstrategisk Forskning
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Sustainability and Innovation in Business
- Keywords
- circular business models, circular economy, resource efficiency, business model innovation, reuse, repair, remanufacturing, concept definition, theoretical framework
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