Circular Economy Practices in the context of Project Management

Closes:
Journal
Journal of Responsible Production and Consumption
Guest editor(s)
Ashkan Zarghami, Faris Elghaish, Javad Bakhshi,

Submit your paper here!

Introduction

In recent years, the concept of the circular economy (CE) — an economic model that focuses on maximising resource efficiency by minimising waste, retaining long-term value, and reducing the consumption of resources (Morseletto, 2020) — has gained significant traction as a sustainable approach to protect the environment and gain socioeconomic benefits. More explicitly, CE principles emphasise the minimisation of waste and the maximisation of resource efficiency through strategies such as reducing, reusing, recycling, and remanufacturing (Chen and Dagestani, 2023). Many organisations, ranging from government bodies to private sectors, have placed the CE at the top of their agenda with the aim of achieving sustainability targets (Kristoffersen et al., 2021). In a similar vein to industry practice, academic literature has extensively examined the CE and its implementation in various domains such as supply chain management (Bressanelli et al., 2022), manufacturing settings (James et al., 2023), blockchain technology (Sadeghi et al., 2023), and corporate social responsibility (Baah et al., 2023). 

Despite the widespread recognition of CE, project management research and practice have not thoroughly explored this concept. Projects play a pivotal role in shaping the way organisations conceive, plan, and execute initiatives. They face a multitude of challenges stemming from managerial, environmental, technical, and safety factors (Dumrak and Zarghami, 2023). It is widely recognised that the incorporation of CE principles into project management practices enables organisations to enhance their environmental stewardship, optimise resource utilisation, improve the value of project outcomes, and foster innovation and collaboration among project stakeholders. The adoption of the CE concept requires developing and assessing the viability of project management processes and tools. Despite growing recognition of the importance of CE in project management, there remains a gap in understanding the practical implications, challenges, and opportunities associated with this integration. This elevates the need for further research to effectively address challenges, capitalise on opportunities and maximise the benefits of CE implementation in projects.

List of Topic Areas

This special issue seeks to explore the intersection of CE practices and project management. Specifically, it aims to address core questions at the nexus between project management and CE. We invite submissions that address a wide range of topics, including but not limited to: 

  1. Circular Design Thinking in Project Management 
  2. Lifecycle Assessment in Project Management  
  3. Circular Economy Metrics  
  4. Complexity of Circular Economy Projects  
  5. Risk Assessment and Circular Economy  
  6. Circular Economy and Sustainable Infrastructure Projects 
  7. Circular Economy and Innovation in Project Management  
  8. Circular Economy in Construction Technology Projects 
  9. Circular Supply Chain (CSC) processes, tools and techniques  
  10. Circular Economy and Social Responsibility 
  11. Governance of Circular Economy Projects 
  12. The Role of Project Managers addressing Circular Economy Challenges 
  13. The Role of Lean Construction in Advancing Circular Economy 
  14. Emerging Digital Technology Solutions for Circular Economy 

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to "Please select the issue you are submitting to".

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

This is a fully open access journal, which means all articles are published under the gold open access route, using a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user licence.

Journal of Responsible Production and Consumption operates a continuous publishing model. Articles accepted for publication (subject to double anonymous peer review) will publish once authors have approved proofs.

Emerald will cover the publication costs of accepted articles that were submitted to this special issue before the closing date of October 1st 2024.

Key Deadlines

Submissions close: October 1st 2024.

Guest Editors

Ashkan Zarghami, Australian National University 
Faris Elghaish, Queen’s University Belfast 
Javad Bakhshi, University of South Australia 

References

Baah, C., Agyabeng-Mensah, Y., Afum, E., and Kumi, C. A. (2023). Do circular economy practices accelerate CSR participation of SMEs in a stakeholder-pressured era? A network theory perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 394, 136348. 
Bressanelli, G., Visintin, F., and Saccani, N. (2022). Circular Economy and the evolution of industrial districts: A supply chain perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 243, 108348. 
Chen, P., and Dagestani, A.A. (2023). What lies about circular economy practices and performance? Fresh insights from China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 416, 137893. 
Dumrak, J., and Zarghami, S.A. (2023). The role of artificial intelligence in lean construction management. Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. DOI: ECAM-02-2022-0153. 
James, A. T., Kumar, G., James, J., and Asjad, M. (2023). Development of a micro-level circular economy performance measurement framework for automobile maintenance garages. Journal of Cleaner Production, 417, 138025. 
Kristoffersen, E., Mikalef, P., Blomsma, F., and Li, J. (2021). The effects of business analytics capability on circular economy implementation, resource orchestration capability, and firm performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 239, 108205. 
Morseletto, P. (2020). Targets for a circular economy. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 153, 104553. 
Sadeghi, M., Mahmoudi, A., Deng, X., and Luo, X. (2023). Prioritizing requirements for implementing blockchain technology in construction supply chain based on circular economy: Fuzzy Ordinal Priority Approach. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 20(5), 4991-5012.