Oliver KLEIN, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich, Germany
Circular economies are an important pillar of sustainable production and consumption. This particularly applies to the agri-food industry, which is characterised by large amounts of organic waste and by-product streams posing a challenge for many food producers and rural places. Therefore, respective firms seek to create circular economy business models (CEBMs) in order to manage these resource flows effectively. However, there is only little knowledge on the functioning of CEBMs in bio-based industries, and the institutional contexts and multi-scalar networks they are embedded in. The paper addresses this gap by exploring business models, drivers and spatialities of agri-food waste valorisation using the examples of potato and rapeseed production in Lower Saxony, Germany. The findings show that circular economy practices result from a complex interplay of internal and external drivers, with shifting economic logics in the assessment of waste and by-products as a main impetus for practising biological reverse cycles. In addition, the companies studied have been encouraged by specific policies and emerging sustainability discourses to (re)design and (re)frame CEBMs in view of environmental and societal issues.
Mots clés : Circular Economy|Food Waste|Sustainable Food Systems
A103649OK