Exploring the implementation of a circular economy strategy: the case of a closed-loop supply of aluminum beverage cans

The circular economy concept provides a key opportunity to address the challenge of resource scarcity for both policy makers and industries. Companies are urged to play their part and integrate circular economy in their business. However, little has been said about how implementation should occur and the consequences for the industry.

This paper explores possibilities for the business implementation of a beverage producer’s circular economy strategy, which consists in setting up a closed-loop supply of aluminum beverage cans. For this purpose, we develop a business model-inspired framework derived from literature on business models and circular economy, which we use to analyze the current business ecosystem for aluminum beverage cans in the UK.