From Linear to Circular Economy: PSS Conducting the Transition

It is a consensus that we are passing by a period of severe natural resource depletion. Our current linear socioeconomic system, characterized by the product discard at the end of product life, is one of the main causes of this natural depletion. Some governs and institution, as European Union 3 and The Ellen MacArthur Foundation 1, are calling for a new economic model, as can be seen on the Europe 2020 strategy 4: “the Europe Union has no choice but to go for the transition to a resource-efficient and ultimately regenerative circular economy”. This highlights the trend for a circular economy, characterized by restoration and circularity of product components. It is a response to the inefficient management of the resources in the traditional linear model. To support this transition from a linear to a circular economy, business managers rely on new business models be developed. Product-Service System (PSS) is considered a business model that integrates products and services with the aim of fulfilling customer's needs. The objective of this study is to identify if PSS can be used as a business model for firms achieve resource-efficiency through circular economy. This study constitute a literature review and a bibliometric analysis about PSS and circular economy.