Domination of Managerial and Technical Frames : How the Circular Economy Is Reported in Finnish Business

Abstract

Our research combines two research fields—the circular economy (CE) and sustainability reporting. Previous CE literature has focused on economic and environmental aspects, while the focus on social aspects has been rare. In the field of sustainability reporting, research on CE reporting is lacking. We address this gap. Our data consist of 32 sustainability reports from large Finnish companies. We applied frame analysis to the reports and found that CE reporting varies from none to moderate. Furthermore, we identified three different frames of CE reporting: CE management, technical CE and social CE. The management and technical frames dominate our data. This study contributes to the prior literature on CE reporting by showing how CE is positively framed in sustainability reports but lacks indications of the systematic change that is considered the core of CE in its previous conceptualisations. To achieve strong sustainability, companies urgently need to change the ways in which they operate.