Barriers to circular economy: Insights from a small electric vehicle battery manufacturer

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the transition to circular economy (CE). The CE transition for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with a focus on manufacturing SMEs underpins this research, which explores the potential barriers to implementing a CE business model. Barriers to CE transition are a growing research area, and this study makes two key contributions to the literature. First, we explore the interactions between different barriers to CE transition. Second, we do this through an in-depth case study of a small enterprise at the center of the electrification and mobility ecosystem that specializes in high-voltage batteries for special vehicles. Our results show that barriers related to the regulatory framework, market structure, actors and their attitudes, structure, technology, and tools hinder CE transition. Moreover, the interactions between these barriers keep the system unbalanced by reinforcing loops and making CE transition more challenging.