Circular economy: Bridging the gap in sustainable manufacturing

Over the past decade, the business climate has been affected by high commodity prices, losses suffered due to economic and structural waste, and, most importantly, the adverse impact to the environment has threatened the long-term global wealth creation ability of businesses. This unprecedented and exponential surge of undesirable factors calls for a different approach to the current linear economic system. The conception of a circular economy has sparked great interest, with many industries and nations hailing it as the most significant innovation of the 21st century. The study focuses on identifying key influencing factors that positively impact the adoption of Circular Economy with relevance to emerging economies of the world. A total of 191 usable responses got collected, with a response rate of roughly 88 %. The data collected from the questionnaire got analyzed using ADANCO 2.0 to build a process model using a variance-based structural equation. Variance-based SEM first creates proxies as linear combinations of observed variables and, after that, uses these proxies to estimate the model parameters. It is a popular statistical technique because of its ability to model selected independent variables and consider all possible forms of measurement error to test an entire theory. The data analysis suggests that the SOLVE model is an influential model which, when implemented in the manufacturing sector, can help tap various opportunities. The SOLVE model helps companies achieve the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit). Companies should consider investing their time, efforts, and money to bridge the circularity gap and thus adopting the circular innovation strategies. It increases profits for firms and boosts innovation in business models, product design supply chains, and other aspects of the economy. Furthermore, it generates employment and helps people achieve sustainable development goals. Policymakers at all government levels play an essential role in the circular economy. There are two broad and complementary policymaking strategies to accelerate the circular economy: fixing the market and regulatory failures and stimulating market activity.