ABSTRACT Industrial clusters are central to the circular economy transition, yet how they develop into eco‐clusters and the paradoxical tensions this transformation fuels remain underexplored. Drawing on 48 in‐depth interviews and secondary data from a Turkish textile‐recycling cluster, we develop an empirically grounded model of eco‐cluster transition showing three intertwined paradoxical tensions: ambidexterity (mass recycling vs. circular innovation), coopetition (solidarity vs. rivalry) and identity (rag recycler vs. circular pioneer). These tensions reinforce one another and are amplified by contextual conditions such as economic volatility, fragmented governance and cultural‐material realities, which collectively produce multiple, mutually reinforcing lock‐ins that challenge the eco‐cluster transformation journey. Our study extends paradox theory to the cluster level by specifying how ambidexterity, coopetition and identity tensions manifest and interact at the meso level. It also advances eco‐cluster research by theorizing eco‐cluster transitions as paradoxical and elevating the active role of contextual boundary conditions.
Dzhengiz et al. (Mon,) studied this question.