Circular supply chains for small and medium enterprises: A multiple case study analysis

Circular Economy (CE) is emerging as an alternative industrial paradigm to linear economic models, aiming at promoting more sustainable patterns and production processes. However, empirical researches explaining how companies can adopt CE in practice are still limited to either specific sectors or big companies. This way, European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are coping with big issues during the transition from linear to circular behaviours. To this aim, the paper focuses on the practical adoption of CE through a description of four case studies sharing a similar aim, or the upcycling of materials from e-wastes. The explorative nature of this work must be intended as a first step towards the implementation of multi-sectorial (SME-oriented) circular supply chains able to get real benefits from the adoption of circular practices.