How collaboration act as an enabler for circular economy in the fiber-based packaging industry

Abstract: Trends and demands towards sustainability are increasing globally with no exception for the fiber-based packaging industry. New concepts and solutions need to be explored and circular economy becoming a focal point of a lot of research. One of the enablers with the most potential to help accelerate the transition from a linear economy to a circular one is collaboration and contemporary research focusing on a specific industry with regards to this is lacking. The purpose of this research is therefore to investigate how collaboration act as an enabler for circular economy in the fiber-based packaging industry with regards to collaboration types, the business model, and the adoption of strategies such as closing, slowing and narrowing resource flows. The study also focuses on exploring a possible connection between the level of circularity and the level of collaboration. The work is exploratory and the main method for data gathering is semi-structured interviews. The results show that the main circular business model used in the industry is extending resource value. And, that new collaborations can help companies in the industry climb the waste hierarchy by extending the resource value while finding new opportunities for waste. The study further reveals that legislations towards sustainability act as a driver for circular focused projects in the industry and that large companies can by collaborating with startups accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. Regarding collaboration types and levels of collaboration, the findings also exhibit that the types vary depending on if the partners are acting in the same industry or not. However, we did not find any obvious pattern between the level of collaboration and the level of circularity.