Work

Valuing Waste or Wasting Value: Tensions in Justifications of Worth in Circular Innovation Ecosystem Around Waste Valorization

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores how diverse actors establish and justify the value of waste in the early stages of circular innovation ecosystems around waste valorization. Using the “economies of worth” framework and through a longitudinal study of a French circular ecosystem around valorizing human excreta, we identify three phases of ecosystem emergence: ideation, experimentation, and reconfiguration. In these phases, the tensions stemming from mobilizing multiple orders of worth initially fostered collaboration but later led to conflicts that fragmented the ecosystem and led to new alignments. Our findings contribute to the understanding and management of tensions in circular innovation ecosystems and the social and moral dimensions of waste valorization. We also extend the economies of worth literature by highlighting the dynamics of conflicting orders of worth in ecosystem emergence.

Source: Organization & Environment

DOI: 10.1177/10860266251321845

Authors: Neva Bojovic, Hugo Guyader, Fanny Salignac, Frederic Ponsignon

Institutions: Kedge Business School, Linköping University, University of Technology Sydney

Language: English

Topic: Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W4408410149

FWCI: 6.263

Cites: 65

Cited by: 7

Related to: 10