IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v34y2025i7p8832-8846.html

How Cooperatives Embed Circularity in Their Business Models and Governance—Results From an International Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Rafael Ziegler
  • Jonas Rey‐Sierro
  • Sonja Novkovic
  • Inmaculada Buendía‐Martínez
  • Justine Ballon
  • Simon Teasdale
  • Michael J. Roy

Abstract

Cooperatives as a democratic form of economic organization are an emerging focus in research on the social dimensions of circular economy. However, there is no international database on cooperatives and circular economy, impeding systematic analysis. Drawing on the first international database and survey of cooperatives and circular economy from 12 countries in Europe and the Americas, we explore how cooperatives embed circularity in their business models and governance, including the technology and partnership choices this involves, and how this uptake is currently facilitated. The analysis shows there to be a trend of new, usually small cooperatives that pursue circularity as a core value from inception, that tend to prefer upstream circularity strategies and that look for support from established cooperative networks. Already established, also larger cooperatives tend to explore circularity strategies both internally and by forming networks. There is potential for sectoral and intersectoral federations to facilitate circularity uptake.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Ziegler & Jonas Rey‐Sierro & Sonja Novkovic & Inmaculada Buendía‐Martínez & Justine Ballon & Simon Teasdale & Michael J. Roy, 2025. "How Cooperatives Embed Circularity in Their Business Models and Governance—Results From an International Survey," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(7), pages 8832-8846, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:7:p:8832-8846
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.70045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70045
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.70045?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beckert, Jens, 2007. "The Great Transformation of Embeddedness: Karl Polanyi and the New Economic Sociology," MPIfG Discussion Paper 07/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Franck Aggeri, 2023. "L’économie circulaire, une renaissance durable ? De la circularité faible à la circularité forte," Post-Print hal-04391588, HAL.
    3. Ziegler, Rafael & Bauwens, Thomas & Roy, Michael J. & Teasdale, Simon & Fourrier, Ambre & Raufflet, Emmanuel, 2023. "Embedding circularity: Theorizing the social economy, its potential, and its challenges," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    4. Vincent Moreau & Marlyne Sahakian & Pascal Griethuysen & François Vuille, 2017. "Coming Full Circle: Why Social and Institutional Dimensions Matter for the Circular Economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 497-506, June.
    5. Michael J. Roy & Suzanne Grant, 2020. "The Contemporary Relevance of Karl Polanyi to Critical Social Enterprise Scholarship," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 177-193, May.
    6. Sonja Novkovic, 2022. "Cooperative identity as a yardstick for transformative change," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(2), pages 313-336, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rousselière, Damien & Bouchard, Marie J. & Rousselière, Samira, 2024. "How does the social economy contribute to social and environmental innovation? Evidence of direct and indirect effects from a European survey," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    2. Ziegler, Rafael & Bauwens, Thomas & Roy, Michael J. & Teasdale, Simon & Fourrier, Ambre & Raufflet, Emmanuel, 2023. "Embedding circularity: Theorizing the social economy, its potential, and its challenges," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    3. Cornée, Simon & Rousselière, Damien & Thelen, Véronique, 2025. "The environmental benefits of grassroots cooperatives in agriculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    4. Manoj Kumar Mishra & Arun Mittal & Nirmal Singh & D. D. Chaturvedi & Ankita Srivastava, 2026. "Overcoming Barriers to Sustainable Production: A Fuzzy DEMATEL Approach to Circular Economy Challenges," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Bruno Michel Roman Pais Seles & Janaina Mascarenhas & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & Adriana Hoffman Trevisan, 2022. "Smoothing the circular economy transition: The role of resources and capabilities enablers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1814-1837, May.
    6. Monia Niero & Charlotte L. Jensen & Chiara Farné Fratini & Jens Dorland & Michael S. Jørgensen & Susse Georg, 2021. "Is life cycle assessment enough to address unintended side effects from Circular Economy initiatives?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1111-1120, October.
    7. Ian Greer & Thorsten Schulten & Nils Böhlke, 2013. "How Does Market Making Affect Industrial Relations? Evidence from Eight German Hospitals," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 215-239, June.
    8. Millar, Neal & McLaughlin, Eoin & Börger, Tobias, 2019. "The Circular Economy: Swings and Roundabouts?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 11-19.
    9. Arnold Tukker & Renzo Akkerman & Antoine Heideveld & Jaco Quist & Ruben Vrijhoef & Cees Withagen & Mark Beumer, 2024. "Distribution of Power and Value Crucial for a Successful Circular Economy Transition," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 2413-2425, December.
    10. Cardoso Machado, Nuno Miguel, 2011. "Karl Polanyi and the New Economic Sociology: Notes on the Concept of (Dis)embeddedness," MPRA Paper 48957, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Dühr, Stefanie & Berry, Stephen & Moore, Trivess, 2023. "Sustainable housing at a neighbourhood scale," SocArXiv wdfhs, Center for Open Science.
    12. Abdul Karim Aldohni, 2017. "The UK New Regulatory Framework of High-Cost Short-Term Credit: Is There a Shift Towards a More “Law and Society” Based Approach?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 321-345, September.
    13. Anna Barford & Saffy Rose Ahmad, 2021. "A Call for a Socially Restorative Circular Economy: Waste Pickers in the Recycled Plastics Supply Chain," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 761-782, September.
    14. Carolin Maaßen & Tatiana Lopez & David Urbano, 2025. "Institutional enablers for sustainable entrepreneurship: a configurational analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1909-1930, October.
    15. Gavin Melles, 2021. "Figuring the Transition from Circular Economy to Circular Society in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.
    16. Vishal V. Agrawal & Atalay Atasu & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2019. "OM Forum—New Opportunities for Operations Management Research in Sustainability," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Tariq Javed & Fareyha Said & Dalilawati Zainal & Azlina Abdul Jalil, 2024. "Circular Economy Implementation Status of Selected ASEAN Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    18. repec:osf:socarx:wdfhs_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. José-Antonio Corral-Marfil & Núria Arimany-Serrat & Emma L. Hitchen & Carme Viladecans-Riera, 2021. "Recycling Technology Innovation as a Source of Competitive Advantage: The Sustainable and Circular Business Model of a Bicentennial Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-37, July.
    20. Lucas Becerra & Sebastián Carenzo & Paula Juarez, 2020. "When Circular Economy Meets Inclusive Development. Insights from Urban Recycling and Rural Water Access in Argentina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, November.
    21. Marcos Carchano & Inmaculada Carrasco & Ángela González, 2024. "Eco‐innovation and environmental performance: Insights from Spanish wine companies," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 595-623, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:7:p:8832-8846. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.