Circular economy business model opportunities, challenges, and enablers in the electrical and electronic equipment sector: stakeholders’ perspectives

The increasing global quantities of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and its inadequate management have sparked a drive for the circular economy in the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) sector. The adoption of circular economy business models (CEBMs) in the EEE sector is still in its infancy. Few studies have addressed the adoption of specific CEBMs for one or multiple specific EEE products but often the focus has been on limited stakeholders or lifecycle phases. No study has yet been identified that explores and compares the key EEE stakeholders’ perspectives relating to the opportunities, challenges, and enablers for CEBM adoption. Hence, this research employed seven separate stakeholder questionnaire surveys to encapsulate, interpret and compare the perspectives of EEE products’ designers, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, recyclers, business-to-business, and business-to-customer users on factors that drive and hinder the uptake of CEBMs in the EEE sector. The research indicated a strong level agreement amongst the responding EEE stakeholders that opportunities exist for the adoption of CEBMs, notably economic opportunities that should be seized to maximize value creation and capture. Opportunities for recovery and recycling and product longevity are shown to be favoured, while leasing and renting are overlooked. On the other hand, the findings demonstrate that the added value to be derived from the adoption of CEBMs and the costs associated with their adoption are still unclear, and that there are still limited offerings of circular products. The research contributes to an understanding and advancement of the circular economy via CEBM adoption in the EEE sector.