Operating lease as a means and motivation for circular economy

Research background: The issue of circular economy is currently a very topical and discussed issue, which people are becoming increasingly aware of. There is no doubt that this growing trend attract the attention of the whole world, including policy-makers, industrial administrators, ecologists, or academics. Circular economy is a concept that is an integral part of sustainable development. It focuses on the ways how to improve the quality of human life and environment by means of increasing the productivity efficiency. Moreover, circular economy is considered essential in terms of protecting natural resources and environment. A means of sustainable development and product recirculation are leasing transactions. Purpose of the article: The paper deals with the identification of positives and negatives of operating lease and determine whether it is a suitable tool to apply the principles of circular economy in the Czech economy. For this purpose, two research questions are formulated. Methods: To answer the questions, statistical data of the Česká leasingová a finanční asociace (Czech Leasing and Financial Association) on the development of non-bank financing of business entities and consumers in the years 2017-2021 and phenomenological analysis of semi-structured interviews with respondents. Findings & Value added: The results of the research show that operating lease is the most commonly used form of financing investment in tangible assets, despite the declining trend that could be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. An interesting finding is that the respondents addressed perceive positives and negatives in completely opposite ways. The main contribution of the paper is that it opens up a new topic of financing and achieving the principles of circular economy. Although this study works with a smaller sample of data, further research from the perspective of manufacturers and lease products providers.