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The integration of circular economy within corporate sustainability reporting: towards a framewok
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Abstract(s)
Apesar da adoção crescente de iniciativas de desenvolvimento sustentável, as economias
baseadas no consumo e na extração de materiais e energia não conseguem abordar
questões globais como o esgotamento de recursos, as alterações climáticas e a perda de
biodiversidade. Como resultado, académicos e decisores políticos têm procurado vias
alternativas para a criação de valor económico e social, e que ao mesmo tempo minimizem
os impactes ambientais negativos. O modelo de economia circular (EC) de produção e
consumo, que promete transformar os sistemas económicos lineares, tem vindo a ser
rapidamente integrado nas iniciativas de sustentabilidade organizacional. As empresas
estão cada vez mais sensibilizadas para a transição para a EC, encarando como uma
oportunidade para implementar práticas inovadoras de responsabilidade social. Este
compromisso crescente das empresas em melhorar a implementação de estratégias e
práticas de EC exige o desenvolvimento de directrizes para assegurar uma comunicação
externa consistente e eficaz. Os relatórios de sustentabilidade permitem às empresas
mostrar não só ocompromisso com a sustentabilidade, mas também aumentar a
transparência das actividades empresariais. À medida que os modelos de EC ganham
presença no sector privado, os relatórios continuam a ser um canal de interação
privilegiada com as partes interessadas, assegurarando que as empresas estão a ser
responsabilizadas pela implementação dosobjectivos de sustentabilidade assumidos. Na
ausência de directrizes “normalizadas” para avaliar e comunicar a internalização da
circularidade na organização, não está a ser aproveitado todo o potencial da utilização de
relatórios como instrumento de apoio à transição para a sustentabilidade organizacional.
As evidências existentes sugerem uma baixa inclusão da EC nos relatórios de
sustentabilidade, e reforçam a existência de lacunas de investigação significativas sobre a
intersecção da EC com os relatórios de sustentabilidade.
Neste contexto, o presente trabalho de investigação visa explorar e apoiar a a
integração da EC nas práticas e abordagens associadas a relatórios de sustentabilidade
nas empresas. Para atingir este objectivo principal, foram equacionados quatro objectivos específicos de investigação: 1) investigar como é que a literatura existente e as abordagens
metodológicas associadas à conceção e operacionalização de relatórios de
sustentabilidade orientam as empresas na integração das questões de EC nos relatórios
de sustentabilidade; 2) analisar o conteúdo relacionado com EC presente nos relatórios de
sustentabilidade de empresas classificadas em rankings de sustentabilidade; 3) explorar as
perspectivas e experiências das empresas que divulgam conteúdos de EC nos relatórios
de sustentabilidade; 4) propor recomendações para melhorar o a comunicação dos
conteúdos de EC pelas empresas. Este trabalho segue uma concepção interpretativa e
indutiva da investigação, utilizando métodos qualitativos e quantitativos para a recolha e
análise de dados. Mais especificamente, as estratégias de investigação incluiram uma
revisão sistemática da literatura, análise de conteúdo, inquéritospor questionário,
entrevistas semi-estruturadas e grupos focais. A investigação ao ter sido baseada em
métodos mistos, incluindo a utilização de diferentes métodos de recolha de dados, permitiu
reforçar as principais conclusões obtidas neste estudo.
Os principais resultados deste trabalho de investigação são consubstanciados em
três artigos científicos, com o objectivo de contribuir para as discussões teóricas e práticas
sobre EC em relatórios de sustentabilidade de organizações empresariais. Dos resultados
do primeiro objectivo de investigação, verificou-se que a EC foi incluída apenas em cinco
dos quinze modelos e abordagens de relatórios de sustentabilidade analisados, e na
maioria das vezes incluídos como: i) um tema incluído voluntariamente e, apresentado
como material suplementar; ou ii) discutidos dentro de um único tópico: gestão de recursos
ou resíduos. Além disso, a EC é mais comummente descrita através da definição da
Fundação Ellen MacArthur e a responsabilidade pela selecção dos dados da EC continua
a ser da responsabilidade exclusiva da empresa, uma vez que não existem diretrizes ou
normas para este efeito. As conclusões sugerem também que as empresas que procuram
aconselhamento a partir destes modelos de apresentação de relatórios não irão muito
provavelmente reportar as questões da EC ou descreverão apenas qualitativamente as
actividades da EC sob uma perspectiva restrita, normalmente focada na gestão de
resíduos. Os resultados do segundo objectivo revelaram que, embora a EC esteja a ser
explicitamente mencionada em quase todos os relatórios de sustentabilidade analisados, o
conteúdo de EC é muito limitado e não está presente nas diferentes componentes do
relatório de sustentabilidade. Especificamente, CE é descrita na mensagem do presidente executivo em apenas 20% das empresas, e em 28% das avaliações de materialidade da
empresa. Além disso, observou-se que as empresas efetuam uma ligação superficial do
conteúdo da EC com os Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, e sem qualquer
justificação quantitativa para a maioria dos casos. Relativamente a objectivos e indicadores
de EC, menos de um terço das empresas revelaram objectivos que focam sobretudo
iniciativas de circularidade de nível estratégico e indicadores que avaliam sobretudo
práticas de circularidade de escala operacional. Globalmente, estas conclusões destacam
duas visões de EC no âmbito das estratégias empresariais: 1) EC é um pilar importante; ou
2) EC é uma extensão (ou substituição) de temas associados às áreas de resíduos e/ou de
gestão. No âmbito do terceiro objectivo, as empresas investigadas destacaram sete
factores críticos para reportar EC, bem como identificaram vários desafios e benefícios
associados à comunicação externa dos dados de EC. Em relação à relevância e
exequibilidade do reporte de EC, as empresas evidenciaram que, em geral, o conteúdo de
EC é relevante para todos os elementos-chave do conteúdo dos relatórios de
sustentabilidade, contudo, consideraram os elementos de "Riscos e Oportunidades" e
"Desempenho de Sustentabilidade" como os menos exequíveis para desenvolver e divulgar
dados da EC. Os resultados do quarto objectivo de investigação traduziram-se por uma
série de recomendações práticas, relevantes para os profissionais que trabalham com
questões de EC, de relatórios de sustentabilidade e ainda aqueles envolvidos com a
sustentabilidade organizacional em geral. Em particular, as empresas devem dar prioridade
à identificação de riscos e oportunidades relacionadas com a EC, e reconhecer a hierarquia
das estratégias da EC ao medir e divulgar os respetivos dados. Devem ainda reconhecer a
EC como uma poderosa ferramenta de reporte no contexto da criação de valor empresarial
e assegurar que as metas relacionadas com a EC são acompanhadas por indicadores
relevantes para evitar potenciais alegações de ”greenwashing”.
No conjunto, os resultados desta investigação fornecem vários contributos para a
concretização do objectivo central: explorar e apoiar a necessária integração da EC no
âmbito das práticas e modelos de relatórios de sustentabilidade das empresas. Os
principais resultados demonstram que a integração da EC não só é uma evidência, como
está em rápida evolução no âmbito da elaboração de relatórios de sustentabilidade das
empresas. Esta investigação conclui com reflexões teóricas sobre as percepções
corporativas da EC e a sua relação com a sustentabilidade que emerge nos relatórios de sustentabilidade. Além disso, os resultados revelam várias sinergias e limitações entre as
percepções de valor dentro dos processos de EC e de criação de valor empresarial. Esta
investigação apresenta um primeira contributo para apoiar a integração da EC nos
processos de reporte da sustentabilidade das empresas, estabelecendo uma visão geral
das actuais tendências e fraquezas dos relatórios, ao mesmo tempo que destaca
numerosas oportunidades de trabalho futuro para facilitar e impulsionar a transparência na
transição para uma EC.
Despite the mainstreaming of sustainable development initiatives, overconsuming and extractive economies fail to address global issues such as resource depletion, climate change and biodiversity loss. As a result, academics and policymakers have been looking for alternative pathways to creating economic and societal value, whilst minimising adverse environmental impacts. The circular economy (CE) model of production and consumption, which promises to transform linear economic systems, is then rapidly being integrated within organisational sustainability initiatives. Companies are increasingly viewing the transition towards CE as an opportunity to implement innovative social responsibility practices. This increased commitment from companies to improving their CE implementation demands the development of guidelines to ensure meaningful and consistent external communication. Sustainability reports allow companies to display not only their commitment to sustainability but increase transparency of their business activities. As the CE model gains momentum in the private sector, reporting remains a viable pathway for stakeholders to ensure companies are being held accountable for achieving their sustainability objectives. With an absence of standardised guidelines for assessing and publishing progress towards circularity, the full potential of reporting as a tool to facilitate change towards improved corporate sustainability is not being realised. Early evidence suggests a low uptake of CE within sustainability reports and significant research gaps exist concerning the intersection of CE and sustainability reporting. Within this context, this research aims to explore and support the emergence of CE within corporate sustainability reporting practices and approaches. To achieve this aim, four research objectives are offered: 1) investigate how existent sustainability reporting approaches and literature guide companies to include CE issues within their corporate sustainability reports, 2) explore CE-related content within the corporate sustainability reports of sustainably-ranked companies, 3) capture the perspectives and experiences of companies disclosing CE within their corporate sustainability report and 4) provide recommendations to improve the feasibility of companies disclosing CE content. This thesis follows an interpretivist and inductive research design, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. More specifically, strategies include a systematic literature review, multiple content analyses, semi-quantitative surveys, semistructured interviews and focus groups. By conducting a mixed methods study with multiple data collection methods, the overall conclusions have been strengthened. The main results from this thesis constitute three appended research articles, aiming to contribute findings to both academic and industry discussions on CE. Within the outcomes of the first objective, CE was found to be included within only five of the fifteen sustainability reporting frameworks and approaches reviewed and most often included as: i) a voluntary issue within supplementary material; or ii) discussed within a single topic: resource or waste management. Furthermore, CE is most commonly described using the definition from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the responsibility for CE-data selection remains the responsibility of the company. The findings also suggest that companies seeking advice from these reporting frameworks will most likely not report CE issues at all or only qualitatively describe CE activities from a narrow waste management perspective. The outputs of the second objective determined that whilst CE is being explicitly mentioned within almost all of the sustainability reports analysed, very few integrated CE-content within each of the examined sustainability report elements. Specifically, CE was described in the CEO’s message of only 20% of companies and in 28% of the company’s materiality assessments. Moreover, companies were observed to be linking CE content superficially with the SDGs, with most instances being void of any quantitative justification. With respect to targets and indicators for CE, less than one third of companies were found to disclose them, with targets mostly measuring high-ranking circularity strategies and indicators mostly low-ranking circularity strategies. Overall, these findings signal two main representations of CE within corporate strategies: 1) CE is a major pillar; or 2) CE is an extension (or replacement) of existing waste and/or management issues. Within the third objective, investigated companies highlighted seven critical factors for CE disclosure, as well as several challenges to- and benefits of- externally communicating their CE data. With respect to relevance and feasibility, companies determined that generally, CE-content is relevant to all key content elements of sustainability reports, however, found the elements of ‘Risks and Opportunities’ and ‘Sustainability Performance’ to be the least feasible to develop and disclose CE data for. The outcomes of the fourth objective propose a number of practical recommendations relevant for practitioners of CE, sustainability reporting and those involved with general corporate sustainability. In particular, companies should prioritise identifying CE-related risks and opportunities, acknowledge the hierarchy of CE strategies when measuring and disclosing CE data, recognise CE as a powerful storytelling tool within corporate value creation and ensure that CE-related targets are accompanied by relevant indicators to avoid potential claims of greenwashing. Collectively, the chapters within this thesis provide numerous insights on achieving the central aim: to explore and support the emergence of CE within corporate sustainability reporting practices and approaches. In general, the findings of this research demonstrate that the integration of CE is not only evident but rapidly evolving within corporate sustainability reporting. This thesis concludes with theoretical reflections on the corporate perceptions of CE and its relationship with sustainability emerging within sustainability reports. Additionally, results reveal various synergies and limitations between perceptions of value within a CE and corporate value creation processes. This research presents a first attempt to support the integration of CE within corporate sustainability processes, establishing an overview of current reporting trends and shortcomings whilst also highlighting numerous opportunities for future work to facilitate and drive transparency within the transition towards a CE.
Despite the mainstreaming of sustainable development initiatives, overconsuming and extractive economies fail to address global issues such as resource depletion, climate change and biodiversity loss. As a result, academics and policymakers have been looking for alternative pathways to creating economic and societal value, whilst minimising adverse environmental impacts. The circular economy (CE) model of production and consumption, which promises to transform linear economic systems, is then rapidly being integrated within organisational sustainability initiatives. Companies are increasingly viewing the transition towards CE as an opportunity to implement innovative social responsibility practices. This increased commitment from companies to improving their CE implementation demands the development of guidelines to ensure meaningful and consistent external communication. Sustainability reports allow companies to display not only their commitment to sustainability but increase transparency of their business activities. As the CE model gains momentum in the private sector, reporting remains a viable pathway for stakeholders to ensure companies are being held accountable for achieving their sustainability objectives. With an absence of standardised guidelines for assessing and publishing progress towards circularity, the full potential of reporting as a tool to facilitate change towards improved corporate sustainability is not being realised. Early evidence suggests a low uptake of CE within sustainability reports and significant research gaps exist concerning the intersection of CE and sustainability reporting. Within this context, this research aims to explore and support the emergence of CE within corporate sustainability reporting practices and approaches. To achieve this aim, four research objectives are offered: 1) investigate how existent sustainability reporting approaches and literature guide companies to include CE issues within their corporate sustainability reports, 2) explore CE-related content within the corporate sustainability reports of sustainably-ranked companies, 3) capture the perspectives and experiences of companies disclosing CE within their corporate sustainability report and 4) provide recommendations to improve the feasibility of companies disclosing CE content. This thesis follows an interpretivist and inductive research design, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. More specifically, strategies include a systematic literature review, multiple content analyses, semi-quantitative surveys, semistructured interviews and focus groups. By conducting a mixed methods study with multiple data collection methods, the overall conclusions have been strengthened. The main results from this thesis constitute three appended research articles, aiming to contribute findings to both academic and industry discussions on CE. Within the outcomes of the first objective, CE was found to be included within only five of the fifteen sustainability reporting frameworks and approaches reviewed and most often included as: i) a voluntary issue within supplementary material; or ii) discussed within a single topic: resource or waste management. Furthermore, CE is most commonly described using the definition from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the responsibility for CE-data selection remains the responsibility of the company. The findings also suggest that companies seeking advice from these reporting frameworks will most likely not report CE issues at all or only qualitatively describe CE activities from a narrow waste management perspective. The outputs of the second objective determined that whilst CE is being explicitly mentioned within almost all of the sustainability reports analysed, very few integrated CE-content within each of the examined sustainability report elements. Specifically, CE was described in the CEO’s message of only 20% of companies and in 28% of the company’s materiality assessments. Moreover, companies were observed to be linking CE content superficially with the SDGs, with most instances being void of any quantitative justification. With respect to targets and indicators for CE, less than one third of companies were found to disclose them, with targets mostly measuring high-ranking circularity strategies and indicators mostly low-ranking circularity strategies. Overall, these findings signal two main representations of CE within corporate strategies: 1) CE is a major pillar; or 2) CE is an extension (or replacement) of existing waste and/or management issues. Within the third objective, investigated companies highlighted seven critical factors for CE disclosure, as well as several challenges to- and benefits of- externally communicating their CE data. With respect to relevance and feasibility, companies determined that generally, CE-content is relevant to all key content elements of sustainability reports, however, found the elements of ‘Risks and Opportunities’ and ‘Sustainability Performance’ to be the least feasible to develop and disclose CE data for. The outcomes of the fourth objective propose a number of practical recommendations relevant for practitioners of CE, sustainability reporting and those involved with general corporate sustainability. In particular, companies should prioritise identifying CE-related risks and opportunities, acknowledge the hierarchy of CE strategies when measuring and disclosing CE data, recognise CE as a powerful storytelling tool within corporate value creation and ensure that CE-related targets are accompanied by relevant indicators to avoid potential claims of greenwashing. Collectively, the chapters within this thesis provide numerous insights on achieving the central aim: to explore and support the emergence of CE within corporate sustainability reporting practices and approaches. In general, the findings of this research demonstrate that the integration of CE is not only evident but rapidly evolving within corporate sustainability reporting. This thesis concludes with theoretical reflections on the corporate perceptions of CE and its relationship with sustainability emerging within sustainability reports. Additionally, results reveal various synergies and limitations between perceptions of value within a CE and corporate value creation processes. This research presents a first attempt to support the integration of CE within corporate sustainability processes, establishing an overview of current reporting trends and shortcomings whilst also highlighting numerous opportunities for future work to facilitate and drive transparency within the transition towards a CE.
Description
Keywords
Economia circular Relatório de sustentabilidade Avaliação da sustentabilidade Taxonomia da União Europeia Responsabilidade social das empresas Circular economy Sustainability reporting Circularity indicators Disclosure framework EU taxonomy regulation Corporate social responsibility
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Opferkuch, Katelin - The integration of circular economy within corporate sustainability reporting [Em linha]: towards a framewok. [S.l.]: [s.n.], [2023]. 282 p.