Blockchain and Agile Management - Important Tools for Circular Economy

Dear Colleagues,

Present economic, societal, and ecological challenges require addressing urgently, as the consequences for the next generations will be disastrous if ignored. Therefore, the future’s legacy should be a system of new and sustainable solutions. For this Special Issue, topics of interest consider subjects such as innovation, waste management, new economic and ecological systems, smart consumption, production, business strategies, green public procurement, and agile management. Moreover, acceptance imposes conditions for the adoption of a circular thinking model, such as a circular economy, and the implementation of sustainable solutions such as such an economy, eliminating the concept of waste, and simultaneously changing how the economy produces goods and what society and the economy consume [1].

Systemic changes could potentially be solved with a circular economy, and offer suitable premises for implementing the concept of "zero waste" through value circulation within the ecosystem (CE), both innovation and habit altering defining its implicative characteristics [1,2,3]. The abandonment of old sciences and re-evaluation of all types of resources could become a part of new alternatives to actual waste management, with the adoption of the circular economy model conceivably leading to a GDP growth, unemployment decrease, flourishing foreign investments, and economic risk reduction, all whilst considering the country's risk premium assessment factors [2,3]. There is no doubt that any participant involved in either socio-economic or societal activities will eventually recognize the importance of a circular economy linked to the protection of living environments, economic growth, and new job creation as the primary sources of innovation and competitive advantages, the companies' rational use of resources, and citizen awareness to protect life and health [4-7].

The main foundations of the sustainable implementation of CE principles are human resources able to use blockchain technology and develop green products, innovative solutions for applied energy development, and the generalization of competitive intelligence use to create more digital drivers for a more efficient market and a richer society, with classical items potentially dismantled and converted into affordable raw materials with a lesser negative impact on nature and people’s lives. In addition to waste management and environmental pollution prevention, human resource departments are also responsible for implementing CE strategies [2,8,9]. Hull et al. suggested that circular economy incubators would help entrepreneurs identify more opportunities relying more on community engagement and responsibility rather than on government assistance, concluding that circular economy approaches education must motivate and inform incubator members [9]. Fidelis et al. found that water or lands are not significant concerns in the CE plan compared to materials or waste, but are expected to open wide the door on intelligent assets and unlock the circular economy potential within an integrated CE concept approach [10, 11].

References

1. Franco-García, M.; Carpio Aguilar, J.-C.; Bressers, H.T. Towards Zero Waste—Circular Economy Boost, Waste to Resources; Springer International: London, UK, 2019.
2. Bucea-Manea-Țoniș, Ro.; Dourado Martins, O.M.; Ilic, D.; Belous, M.; Bucea-Manea-Țoniș, Ra.; Braicu, C.; Simion, V.-E., 2020. Green and Sustainable Public Procurement—An Instrument for Nudging Consumer Behavior. A Case Study on Romanian Green Public Agriculture across Different Sectors of Activity. Sustainability, 13(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010012 WOS:000606361600001
3. Ilić, M.P.; Ranković, M.; Dobrilović, M.; Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, R.; Mihoreanu, L.; Gheța, M.I.; Simion, V.-E. Challenging Novelties within the Circular Economy Concept under the Digital Transformation of Society. Sustainability 2022, 14, 702. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020702
4. Hysa, E.; Kruja, A.; Naqeeb, R.; Laurenti, R. Circular Economy Innovation and Environmental Sustainability Impact on Economic Growth: An Integrated Model for Sustainable Development. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4831.
5. Trica, CL; Banacu, C.S.; Busu, M. Environmental Factors and Sustainability of the Circular Economy Model at the European Union level. Sustainability 2019, 11, 1114.
6. Laurenti, R.; Singh, J.; Frostell, B.; Sinha, R.; Binder, C.R. The Socio-Economic Embeddedness of the Circular Economy: An Integrative Framework. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2129.
7. Lazarevic, D.; Valve, H. Narrating expectations for the circular economy: Towards a common and contested European transition. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 2017, 31, 60–69.
8. Brydges, T. Closing the loop on take, make, waste: Investigating circular economy practices in the Swedish fashion industry. J. Clean. Prod. 2021, 293, 126245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126245.
9. Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, R.; Šević, A.; Ilić, M.P.; Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, R.; Popović Šević, N.; Mihoreanu, L. Untapped Aspects of Innovation and Competition within a European Resilient Circular Economy. A Dual Comparative Study. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8290. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158290.
10. Hull, C.E.; Millette, S.; William, E. Challenges and opportunities in building circular-economy incubators: Stakeholder perspectives in Trinidad and Tobago. J. Clean. Prod. 2021, 296, 126412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126412.
11. Fidélis, T.; Saavedra Cardoso, A.; Ri, F.; Catarina Miranda, A.; Abrantes, J.; Teles, F.; Roebeling, P.C. Policy narratives of circular economy in the EU—Assessing the embeddedness of water and land in national action plans. J. Clean. Prod. 2021, 288, 125685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125685.

Prof. Dr. Milena P. Ilić
Dr. Rocsana Țoniș Bucea-Manea
Guest Editors

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