Understanding Business Barriers to the Circular Economy – One Diagram at a Time
In 2023-24, Zero Waste Scotland and the University of Stirling came together to explore a deceptively simple question: what really prevents businesses from adopting circular economy practices? What followed was a highly collaborative research project driven by complementary expertise, intellectual curiosity and a focus on real-world challenges.
Bringing Expertise Together
In late summer 2023, Zero Waste Scotland launched a new project to understand the barriers that businesses face towards transitioning to circular economy practices, led by Research Analyst, Simon Amos. Early on, it became clear that traditional analytical methods were not sufficient. Unlike previous projects focused on specific sectors, the circular economy as a whole was a much more complex system – a new approach was needed in the form of an ecosystems framework.
At the same time, Dr Michaela Hruskova, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Stirling Business School, had been working on entrepreneurial ecosystems as the ‘bread and butter’ of her research work, primarily in the tech and digital sectors. While circular economy was outside her usual focus, the methodological challenge proved compelling.
The connection between the two was made through existing professional relationships built on past engagement. What followed was a match full of intellectual curiosity and a shared deep interest to dig into this complex, real-world problem.
“The vision and direction for the project were already in place when Simon and the team approached me. The initial plan was for me to only be a bit of a sounding board, but it sounded like such an exciting opportunity that I thought: oh, I would love to contribute more extensively.” - Dr Michaela Hruskova.
Collaboration in Action
From the outset, the project was designed as a genuine team effort. Simon led the initial project design and overall direction.
To support delivery at pace, circular economy experts at Resource Futures were commissioned to carry out participant identification and recruitment, data collection and initial analysis. They conducted in-depth interviews with subject matter experts, business support and trade organisations, and carried out thematic analysis to identify barrier themes and actionable insights, bringing both efficiency and a valuable independent perspective to the process.
Building on this foundation, Michaela undertook a deeper analysis of the data, including using visual mapping techniques and diagrams – described as the project’s “conspiracy board” – to capture the complex connections and factors shaping business behaviour around circular economy.
Finally, Simon and Michaela brought it all together into a set of findings and conclusions that can now be referred to in their final ‘Scotland’s Circular Economy Practices Ecosystem’ report.
The project was further supported by a steering group and Zero Waste Scotland’s project management and communications teams, offering support on the direction, project process and visual design of outputs.
“There is value in borrowing theories and approaches from other fields and reinterpreting them in your own - this work is a great example of that. Michaela brought expertise in the ecosystem framework, we brought the Circular Economy knowledge.” - Simon Amos.
Overcoming Challenges
The project brought both Simon and Michaela into unfamiliar territories, yet things progressed quickly.
Running from autumn 2023 to late summer 2024, the project benefited from a clear timeline and strong project management from Zero Waste Scotland that helped to maintain focus on the core research question and, as Michaela put it, “keep the boundaries to prevent mission creep”.
At the same time, it was also clearly Michaela’s skills in deep diving into the data and interrogating it with her entrepreneurial research lens that helped deliver the final results. The team worked on developing trust and openness in their ways of working early on and so – supported by an initial data sharing agreement – much of their collaboration involved frequent, dynamic exchanges focused on sense-checking insights, testing interpretations and using visual tools to collectively make sense of the complex findings.
“I believe we had the right balance between structure, accountability and flexibility, inspiration and creativity.” - Dr Michaela Hruskova.
Outcomes and Impact
As the findings emerged, interest quickly grew within Zero Waste Scotland – as CEO at the time, Iain Gulland, described in his foreword to the final report, the work was developing to be “significant in its transcendence of traditional thinking and approaches to the development of the circular economy in Scotland.”
And thus, a better understanding to how we need to approach rewiring the economy to become more circular became a key impact of the project. As Michaela summarised it, “it was good to get some answers, even though they showed that the whole system is against you” – the outputs from this project have provided a framework that can be used to better understand systemic barriers to circular economy practices, for businesses, sectors and the economy.
At Zero Waste Scotland, this has been pulled through into our corporate vision for 2030 where many of our work areas draw on approaches aligned with the findings of the Ecosystem report.
The project and its findings were also discussed in wider circles: media coverage included an article in Insider.co.uk, a podcast with the Ellen McArthur Foundation and several webinars. It also led Simon to participate in the OECD Forum on Wellbeing in Rome, Italy in November 2024, where related topics and challenges were discussed.
For the University of Stirling Business School, the collaboration has become a flagship example of applied research, closely aligned with the University’s mission to support business with real-world challenges. Beyond still being a regular topic of conversation, the work has also inspired a journal publication which is currently in development.
For Michaela in particular, the collaboration has made her more attuned and open to the circular economy as a topic area: for example, she added a section on circular economy into her teaching and, in 2025, contributed by invitation to the consultation for the Scottish Circular Economy Strategy, applying her expertise to this important piece of legislation now published.
“I think it's time to move past diagnosing the problem. We've set the scene and outlined where the main challenges are, so let's start taking action rather than just continually diagnosing what's wrong.” - Dr Michaela Hruskova.
Lessons Learned
Despite coming from different backgrounds, both Simon and Michaela agreed on three key elements that underpinned the success of the collaboration:
- Having a clear timeline and expectations from the start
- Being mindful and communicating openly with each other throughout the project
- Playing to each other’s strengths and empowering each partner to contribute in their area of expertise.
Together, these created the conditions for trust, creativity and impact outcomes that have been of value to University of Stirling, Zero Waste Scotland and beyond.
Who was Involved
Simon Amos
Simon Amos is a research analyst at Zero Waste Scotland who previously spent many years in the private energy sector. Simon’s research work is informed by his background in economics. His pragmatic approach seeks to understand how we take the societal need for a more circular economy in Scotland and turn it into an economic reality.
Dr Michaela Hruskova
Dr Michaela Hruskova is a researcher and educator with a keen interest in exploring systemic issues affecting entrepreneurial activity. She seeks to understand how value is created within entrepreneurial ecosystems and the impact of unintended consequences. Michaela’s work, which focuses on moving ideas from insight to execution, has informed industry strategy, policy discussions, and public debate.