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The Circular Economy (CE) is generally portrayed as an opportunity to transform the unsustainable linear economic system by rethinking how organisations purchase and provide goods and services, how society consumes and uses resources. The public sector is mostly recognized as a policy-maker and regulator of the CE transition focused on the development of governmental interventions and policy initiatives. Public sector organisations employ a substantial amount of people, provide a wide range of public services, and thus procure, con- sume, and use a lot of resources. Nonetheless it is generally unknown and overlooked how public sector organisations are engaging with circular thinking and implementing circular practices in their operational and strategic activities at organisational level. Consequently, this research aims to examine and understand the engagement of public sector organisations in circular practices and organisational change processes towards circularity. Through an inter- disciplinary approach and using an organisational sustainability perspective, this research first conducted an integrative literature review and developed a conceptual framework of im- portant areas of public sector organisations to investigate and implement CE practices. There- after, through a case study of central public sector organisations in Portugal, this research further explored what constitutes the relevant CE practices in public sector organisations from the perspective of employees using interviews to collect insights. Then, taking an organisa- tional change management for sustainability approach, factors influencing the implementa- tion process towards circularity and supporting strategies were investigated also with inter- views. Finally, based on the conceptual framework and insights from the interviews, a ques- tionnaire survey was distributed to obtain an overview and characterise the implementation of CE practices and organisational change factors and strategies in the Portuguese Central Public Administration. As ...

The Circular Economy (CE) is generally understood as an opportunity to transform the current unsustainable linear economic system by redesigning the way organisations provide goods and services rethinking how society consumes and uses those resources. In this context, the public sector is mainly recognised as an actor enabling the implementation of a sustainable CE through governmental interventions and policy initiatives. However, there is a lack of studies considering the public sector at an organisational level. CE in organisations includes a wide range of different practices that are important to examine in order to analyse the CE implementation process. Consequently, this study aims to characterise the current state of implementing circular practices and supporting strategies in central public sector organisations. To fulfil this aim, a questionnaire survey was sent to the organisations pertaining to the Portuguese Central Public Administration, as surveys are valuable tools to systematically collect information on various topics. The results demonstrate a relatively low level of implementation. Circular practices such as purchasing remanufactured or used items, using sharing platforms, increasing the efficiency of buildings, adopting green human resources and collaborative initiatives for circularity, and assessing and communicating about CE activities have presented low levels of adoption. At the same time, waste collection for recycling and dematerialisation practices showed good implementation levels. There is, thus, immense potential for further implementation of circularity in central public sector organisations in Portugal. This research contributes to deepening the understanding of the extent to which circular practices are embedded in public sector organisations and identifying the main implementation strengths and weaknesses. This research has the potential to help practitioners and researchers in the transition towards circularity in identifying circular opportunities in their organisations and ...

AbstractThe circular economy (CE) is seen as a model of production and consumption where resource use is reduced and extended in closed‐loop life cycles. Organisations have been fundamental in contributing towards CE for which limited outcomes are known from public organisations. This research aims to identify the factors influencing the implementation of CE and the strategies that support such implementation in the public sector. An organisational change management perspective was taken. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with employees from the central public sector in Portugal to gather insights. Results reveal issues such as organisational culture, CE awareness for people in public sector organisations and leadership related to areas of strategy and management, human resources, and communication and assessment as key elements to consider in shifting towards circularity for this type of organisation. This study contributes to the research that has called for an expansion of the scope of CE to include human‐based issues by viewing a public organisation as a multi‐dimensional system transitioning to circularity.

Circular economy (CE) is a concept that is gaining attention as an approach to help accelerate the transition towards sustainability. Research has focused on the adoption of CE practices in the business sector while the adoption within public sector organisations has been relatively overlooked. Examining CE adoption in the public sector through the perceptive of employees is crucial because of their expertise in the organisation where they work. The main aim of this study is to identify what public employees perceive as suitable CE practices for their organisations and their critical role in implementation. As the adoption of CE practices is influenced by social and material configurations, this research has taken a case study approach, focused on the Portuguese Central Public Administration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with public employees working on CE and sustainability issues, and a complementary analysis was undertaken of governmental reports and legislative documents. The results show that public employees view the existence and potential of CE practices mainly in the area of public procurement but also in resource efficiency and optimisation, dematerialisation and in practices related to the R-hierarchy including reduce and reuse. Both technical-oriented practices aimed to achieve traditional resource efficiency, and human-centred practices targeted at reducing consumption and sharing resources have been identified. This research provides insights into how a specific group of stakeholders envisions CE activities for their sector. Identification of practices for central public sector has the potential to assist decision-makers in the process of defining priorities for CE planning, implementation and monitoring. This study focusing on CE practices in central public sector organisations contributes to the calls for an inclusion of human/socially-based practices centred around consumption reduction, sharing and dematerialisation activities to enhance the transformative and innovative potential ...

Circular economy (CE) is a concept that is gaining attention as an approach to help accelerate the transition towards sustainability. Research has focused on the adoption of CE practices in the business sector while the adoption within public sector organisations has been relatively overlooked. Examining CE adoption in the public sector through the perceptive of employees is crucial because of their expertise in the organisation where they work. The main aim of this study is to identify what public employees perceive as suitable CE practices for their organisations and their critical role in implementation. As the adoption of CE practices is influenced by social and material configurations, this research has taken a case study approach, focused on the Portuguese Central Public Administration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with public employees working on CE and sustainability issues, and a complementary analysis was undertaken of governmental reports and legislative documents. The results show that public employees view the existence and potential of CE practices mainly in the area of public procurement but also in resource efficiency and optimisation, dematerialisation and in practices related to the R-hierarchy including reduce and reuse. Both technical-oriented practices aimed to achieve traditional resource efficiency, and human-centred practices targeted at reducing consumption and sharing resources have been identified. This research provides insights into how a specific group of stakeholders envisions CE activities for their sector. Identification of practices for central public sector has the potential to assist decision-makers in the process of defining priorities for CE planning, implementation and monitoring. This study focusing on CE practices in central public sector organisations contributes to the calls for an inclusion of human/socially-based practices centred around consumption reduction, sharing and dematerialisation activities to enhance the transformative and innovative potential ...