Exploring the Dynamic of a Circular Ecosystem: A Case Study about Drivers and Barriers

The circular economy (CE) aims to minimize the environmental impact caused throughout the entire production chain, which can be achieved by implementing circular strategies in collaboration with different actors within a business ecosystem. Although the close relationship between CE and business ecosystem concepts, which originated the term "circular ecosystem", research about this subject is necessary, given the scarcity of empirical studies addressing the phenomenon. Therefore, this study aims to contribute by investigating a Brazilian circular ecosystem specialized in the manufacture of ecological tiles through recycled carton packages. The exploratory case study method was selected to characterize the ecosystem and identify 27 drivers and 17 barriers that enhance and hinder the ecosystem's existence and functioning. Our findings, summarized by a framework, demonstrate the need for integration among the ecosystem's actors so that its value proposition can be delivered. This issue is crucial for collecting post-consumer packaging for recycling and manufacturing ecological tiles. However, actors within the circular ecosystem face some obstacles to collecting the amount of packaging post-consumer material, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, this work generates discussions and future studies on circular ecosystems, especially in the Brazilian context, where there is little evidence in this research field.