Circularity beyond recycling: toward a regenerative supply chain philosophy a conceptual framework

This conceptual paper on the shortcomings of the circular economy model and proposes an approach towards regenerative supply chains where there is an inherent philosophy of restoring the ecosystems in design, rather than addressing end-of-life recovery when recycling alone cannot reduce the environmental footprint. This conceptual framework is developed by conducting an iterative process of thematic analysis of the ecological economics, cradle-to-cradle approach, and complex adaptive system theories through the review of 39 peer-reviewed articles. This paper presents a conceptual and theoretical framework and not an empirical study. Existing circular economy concepts continue the practice of extraction and ignore the problems of rebound effects. The idea of regenerative supply chain is introduced to improve natural and socio-economic ecosystems using the combination of ecosystem services, digitization, and policymaking. Originality/Value: This paper offers a new concept of regenerative supply chain in which regeneration is viewed as a continuous, spiral process rather than optimization of closed-loop process, based on ecopoetic and relational biology approaches. The organizations would need to create new business models, measurement systems, and governing systems which would link economic incentives with ecological restoration. The model sees the supply chain as an agent for regeneration on a social level. As a conceptual framework, the propositions set out here need to be verified empirically across a range of industries and varied regional settings. No primary information was taken in, so every claim is only a theoretical proposal, plus an expected outcome, rather than a demonstrated result.