Sustainability Through Integration: A Conceptual Business Model Framework for Circular Economy and Degrowth

The world is confronted with unprecedented environmental challenges, such as climate change, exploitation of resources, and loss of biodiversity. These create a pressing need for economic and social transformation, especially within businesses and economic models. Circular Economy (CE) and degrowth are two sustainable development concepts that hold considerable transformative capacity in this respect; however, their potential for combined integration is undeveloped. This research seeks to learn the fundamental principles of CE and degrowth and assess how they can be integrated into a business model framework. Expert interviews and literature review were used to determine the fundamental principles of the paradigms. Data was indicatively coded, categorized, and restructured into a business model framework. The research indicates that the principles most applicable to CE and degrowth only overlap in part, but no conflict exists among the other remaining principles hindering them from being combined. Instead, together, CE and degrowth can enable a legitimate and feasible shift of today's economic paradigm in line with principles of ecological economics as well as strong sustainability.