The Influence of SMEs Involved in E-Commerce on Waste Recycling and Circular Use of Materials in The European Union

The main objective of the research was to analyse the influence of small and medium-sized enterprises involved in e-commerce ecosystems on the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment and on the circular use of materials in the European Union. A quantitative, exploratory-explanatory approach was adopted to conduct the research, and two regression equations with panel data were used to test the hypotheses. The model was selected by applying the Hausman test; specific tests for panel data were also applied. The results justified the use of robust Driscoll-Kraay errors, capable of providing consistent estimates. The two regression equations involved two dependent variables (the recycling rate of separately collected waste electrical and electronic equipment and the circular use rate of materials) and four independent variables (percentage of enterprises with e-commerce sales; value of e-commerce sales; percentage of enterprises using social media; percentage of enterprises paying for online advertising). The research results confirmed the positive influence of small and medium-sized enterprises' involvement in e-commerce ecosystems on the circular material use rate in the EU. The analysis of the circular material use rate revealed positive and significant effects on three indicators characterising e-commerce ecosystems: the share of SMEs with online sales, social media use and paid online advertising.