IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v25y2023i1d10.1007_s10668-021-02078-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The transition towards circular economy and waste within accounting and accountability models: a systematic literature review and conceptual framework

Author

Listed:
  • Assunta Di Vaio

    (University of Naples “Parthenope”)

  • Sohail Hasan

    (University of Naples “Parthenope”)

  • Rosa Palladino

    (University of Milano “Bicocca”)

  • Rohail Hassan

    (Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM))

Abstract

A transition towards a circular economy is a challenge. It is vital to know that circularity and sustainability are two different segments. So, circular economy can only be achieved in the long-term perspective. This study investigates accounting and accountability for circular economy and waste. Considering these principles and based on a critical review of the literature, economic gains from the transition toward a circular economy are measurable; the problems for corporations and governments are diverse; the way to handle the stakeholders who are losing control in the circular economy is considerable. Diffusion of innovation theory is used to conduct this study. It is essential that an organisational design built should help implement the circular model. Targeted questions responded by adopting a systematic literature review approach by applying PRISMA protocol. This study examines 78 publications in English between 2012 and 2021, which present a map of the circular economy-related knowledge published in web of science and Scopus. Besides, this study includes 03 European Commission reports, 01 Ellen Macarthur Foundation report, 01 Council for the Environment and Infrastructure report, 01 report from SUN IZA, 01 UN Global Compact and 01 the Brundtland Commission report. The results highlight how circular economy, waste management, sustainability, accountability, and management accounting practices help to develop an ecosystem and achieve sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Assunta Di Vaio & Sohail Hasan & Rosa Palladino & Rohail Hassan, 2023. "The transition towards circular economy and waste within accounting and accountability models: a systematic literature review and conceptual framework," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 734-810, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:25:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10668-021-02078-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-021-02078-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-021-02078-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-021-02078-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Jacso, 2018. "The scientometric portrait of Eugene Garfield through the free ResearcherID service from the Web of Science Core Collection of 67 million master records and 1.3 billion references," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 545-555, February.
    2. Massimiliano Agovino & Maria Ferrara & Katia Marchesano & Antonio Garofalo, 2020. "The separate collection of recyclable waste materials as a flywheel for the circular economy: the role of institutional quality and socio-economic factors," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(2), pages 659-681, July.
    3. Rodolphe Durand & Luc Paugam & Hervé Stolowy, 2019. "Do investors actually value sustainability indices? Replication, development, and new evidence on CSR visibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9), pages 1471-1490, September.
    4. Melvin J Dubnick, 2007. "Sarbanes-Oxley and the Search for Accountable Corporate Governance," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Justin O'Brien (ed.), Private Equity, Corporate Governance And The Dynamics Of Capital Market Regulation, chapter 11, pages 265-293, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Williams, Oliver F., 2004. "The UN Global Compact: The Challenge and the Promise," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 755-774, October.
    6. Ball, Amanda & Craig, Russell, 2010. "Using neo-institutionalism to advance social and environmental accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 283-293.
    7. Florian Hofmann & Melanie Jaeger‐Erben, 2020. "Organizational transition management of circular business model innovations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2770-2788, September.
    8. Francesca Ciulli & Ans Kolk & Siri Boe-Lillegraven, 2020. "Circularity Brokers: Digital Platform Organizations and Waste Recovery in Food Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 299-331, November.
    9. Hanna Helander & Anna Petit‐Boix & Sina Leipold & Stefan Bringezu, 2019. "How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy: An assessment of indicators," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(5), pages 1278-1291, October.
    10. Hughes, Laurie & Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Misra, Santosh K. & Rana, Nripendra P. & Raghavan, Vishnupriya & Akella, Viswanadh, 2019. "Blockchain research, practice and policy: Applications, benefits, limitations, emerging research themes and research agenda," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 114-129.
    11. Kai Li & Jason Rollins & Erjia Yan, 2018. "Web of Science use in published research and review papers 1997–2017: a selective, dynamic, cross-domain, content-based analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Diane-Laure Arjaliès & Julia Mundy, 2013. "The use of management control systems to manage CSR strategy: A levers of control perspective," Post-Print hal-00980329, HAL.
    13. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    14. Dima Jamali, 2010. "MNCs and International Accountability Standards Through an Institutional Lens: Evidence of Symbolic Conformity or Decoupling," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 617-640, September.
    15. Patrick Schroeder & Kartika Anggraeni & Uwe Weber, 2019. "The Relevance of Circular Economy Practices to the Sustainable Development Goals," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 77-95, February.
    16. Claudio A. Bonilla & José M. Merigó & Carolina Torres-Abad, 2015. "Economics in Latin America: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(2), pages 1239-1252, November.
    17. Rajput, Shubhangini & Singh, Surya Prakash, 2019. "Connecting circular economy and industry 4.0," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 98-113.
    18. Lutz Bornmann & Hans‐Dieter Daniel, 2007. "What do we know about the h index?," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 58(9), pages 1381-1385, July.
    19. Ipek Kazancoglu & Muhittin Sagnak & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Yigit Kazancoglu, 2021. "Circular economy and the policy: A framework for improving the corporate environmental management in supply chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 590-608, January.
    20. María D. De-Juan-Vigaray & Ana I. Espinosa Seguí, 2019. "Retailing, Consumers, and Territory: Trends of an Incipient Circular Model," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-15, October.
    21. Joshua Onome Imoniana & Washington Lopes Silva & Luciane Reginato & Valmor Slomski & Vilma Geni Slomski, 2020. "Sustainable Technologies for the Transition of Auditing towards a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.
    22. Maurizio Massaro & John Dumay & James Guthrie, 2016. "On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(5), pages 767-801, June.
    23. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    24. John A. Mathews & Hao Tan, 2016. "Circular economy: Lessons from China," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7595), pages 440-442, March.
    25. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-01-2015-1939 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Hu, Zhigang & Tian, Wencan & Xu, Shenmeng & Zhang, Chunbo & Wang, Xianwen, 2018. "Four pitfalls in normalizing citation indicators: An investigation of ESI’s selection of highly cited papers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1133-1145.
    27. András Schubert & Gábor Schubert, 2020. "Internationality at university level," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(3), pages 1341-1364, June.
    28. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    29. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-03-2018-3399 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Millward-Hopkins, Joel & Purnell, Phil, 2019. "Circulating blame in the circular economy: The case of wood-waste biofuels and coal ash," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 168-172.
    31. Giovanna Michelon & Dennis M. Patten & Andrea M. Romi, 2019. "Creating Legitimacy for Sustainability Assurance Practices: Evidence from Sustainability Restatements," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 395-422, March.
    32. Contrafatto, Massimo, 2014. "The institutionalization of social and environmental reporting: An Italian narrative," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 414-432.
    33. Weishu Liu & Li Tang & Guangyuan Hu, 2020. "Funding information in Web of Science: an updated overview," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1509-1524, March.
    34. Maurizio Massaro & John Dumay & James Guthrie, 2016. "On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(5), pages 767-801, June.
    35. Carol A. Adams & Carlos Larrinaga, 2019. "Progress: engaging with organisations in pursuit of improved sustainability accounting and performance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(8), pages 2367-2394, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rafael Martínez-Peláez & Alberto Ochoa-Brust & Solange Rivera & Vanessa G. Félix & Rodolfo Ostos & Héctor Brito & Ramón A. Félix & Luis J. Mena, 2023. "Role of Digital Transformation for Achieving Sustainability: Mediated Role of Stakeholders, Key Capabilities, and Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-27, July.
    2. Abdul-Wahab Tahiru & Samuel Jerry Cobbina & Wilhemina Asare, 2024. "A Circular Economy Approach to Addressing Waste Management Challenges in Tamale’s Waste Management System," World, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-24, August.
    3. Chun-Chih Chen & Chi-Hui Lai & Nai-Ren Guo & Shu-Ming Wu, 2024. "Exploring the Consumer Acceptance of Circular Housing from the Perspective of SOR Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-26, April.
    4. Yujie Zhang & Qingsong Wang & Shu Tian & Yue Xu & Xueliang Yuan & Qiao Ma & Haichao Ma & Shuo Yang & Yuan Xu & Chengqing Liu, 2024. "Research on the path of industrial sector's carbon peak based on the perspective of provincial differentiation: a case study from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(9), pages 23245-23282, September.
    5. Disraeli Asante-Darko & Samuel Ato Dadzie & Amoako Kwarteng & Sena Agbodjah & Theodora Ekua Aryee, 2024. "Effects of Circular Economy Practices and Accounting Innovations on Sustainable Development Goals," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 3059-3092, December.
    6. Rocío González-Sánchez & Sara Alonso-Muñoz & María Sonia Medina-Salgado, 2023. "Circularity in waste management: a research proposal to achieve the 2030 Agenda," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1520-1540, September.
    7. Aldona Dobrzycka-Krahel & Michał E. Skóra & Marika Malek, 2024. "Human Consumption of Non-Native Species in a Circular Economy: Determination of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Invasive Signal Crayfish from a Baltic Coastal River and Its Assessment for Consump," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-14, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beatriz de Souza Mello Gonçalves & Flávio Leonel de Carvalho & Paula de Camargo Fiorini, 2022. "Circular Economy and Financial Aspects: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-41, March.
    2. Andrew Wear, 2023. "Emergent concepts in local economic development," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 38(8), pages 804-826, December.
    3. German Arana‐Landin & Waleska Sigüenza & Beñat Landeta‐Manzano & Iker Laskurain‐Iturbe, 2024. "Circular economy: On the road to ISO 59000 family of standards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1977-2009, May.
    4. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    5. Yasanur Kayikci & Yigit Kazancoglu & Nazlican Gozacan‐Chase & Cisem Lafci, 2022. "Analyzing the drivers of smart sustainable circular supply chain for sustainable development goals through stakeholder theory," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3335-3353, November.
    6. Gilbert Silvius & Aydan Ismayilova & Vicente Sales-Vivó & Micol Costi, 2021. "Exploring Barriers for Circularity in the EU Furniture Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-25, October.
    7. Jing Shao & Cedric Aneye & Alyona Kharitonova & Wei Fang, 2023. "Essential innovation capability of producer‐service enterprises towards circular business model: Motivators and barriers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4548-4567, November.
    8. Ewa Mazur-Wierzbicka, 2021. "Towards Circular Economy—A Comparative Analysis of the Countries of the European Union," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-25, May.
    9. Yamoah, Fred A. & Sivarajah, Uthayasankar & Mahroof, Kamran & Peña, Iker González, 2022. "Demystifying corporate inertia towards transition to circular economy: A management frame of reference," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    10. Huynh Evertsen, Phuc & Rasmussen, Einar & Nenadic, Oleg, 2022. "Commercializing circular economy innovations: A taxonomy of academic spin-offs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    11. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    12. Di Vaio, Assunta & Hassan, Rohail & Alavoine, Claude, 2022. "Data intelligence and analytics: A bibliometric analysis of human–Artificial intelligence in public sector decision-making effectiveness," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Laura Montag, 2023. "Circular Economy and Supply Chains: Definitions, Conceptualizations, and Research Agenda of the Circular Supply Chain Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 35-75, March.
    14. Patricia Guarnieri & Lucio Camara e Silva & Fazli Haleem & Augusto Bianchini & Jessica Rossi & Brian Vejrum Wæhrens & Sami Farooq & Edgar Reyes & André Luiz Nascimento Reis & Barbara de Oliveira Vieir, 2022. "How Can We Measure the Prioritization of Strategies for Transitioning to a Circular Economy at Macro Level? A New Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-31, December.
    15. Di Vaio, Assunta & Hasan, Sohail & Palladino, Rosa & Profita, Francesca & Mejri, Issam, 2021. "Understanding knowledge hiding in business organizations: A bibliometric analysis of research trends, 1988–2020," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 560-573.
    16. D. D’Amato, 2021. "Sustainability Narratives as Transformative Solution Pathways: Zooming in on the Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 231-242, June.
    17. Graziela Darla Araujo Galvão & Steve Evans & Paulo Sergio Scoleze Ferrer & Marly Monteiro de Carvalho, 2022. "Circular business model: Breaking down barriers towards sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1504-1524, May.
    18. Magdalena Rusch & Josef‐Peter Schöggl & Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2023. "Application of digital technologies for sustainable product management in a circular economy: A review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1159-1174, March.
    19. Leslier Valenzuela-Fernández & Manuel Escobar-Farfán, 2022. "Zero-Waste Management and Sustainable Consumption: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Mapping Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-24, December.
    20. Claudia Marcela Betancourt Morales & Jhon Wilder Zartha Sossa, 2020. "Circular economy in Latin America: A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2479-2497, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:25:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10668-021-02078-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.