Practices and perceptions on ecolabels of Finnish companies with circular economy business models

Abstract

There is a need to better understand the role of ecolabels in the scope of the Circular Economy transition. The aim of this research was to study the perspectives and practices of ecolabel use among Finnish companies with circular economy business models. The survey-based research targeting 214 companies (response rate 18% = n. 39) showed that ecolabels were not commonly used among the sample of companies. (Human) resource constraints were found in this research to partially explain the low uptake of ecolabels. Therefore, the research opens further questions as to alternative benchmarking and communication tools for the environmental performance of companies that see themselves as frontrunners in the application of circular economy business models.