Exploring the Evolution of the Circular Economy Debate

This study takes into the NextGeneration EU plan with regard to the project entitled “ECOSISTER: Ecosystem for Sustainable Transition in EmiliaRomagna” by the Italian “Piano Nazionale Ripresa e Resilienza” (PNRR). This research refers to the sub-area of the project focused on circular economy. Specifically, the aim of this research is to explore the current state of the art of the circular economy debate by performing a bibliometric analysis of the literature. To this end, we extracted 1060 papers published from 2007 to 2023 using the Scopus database. Then, we apply the bibliometric methods in carrying on performance analysis and science mapping investigations. The outcome of this work is twofold: (i) to quantitatively describe the existing research and its evolution by considering refereed journals in the business domain; (ii) to recognise the main topics characterising the discourse by performing a co-word analysis. This preliminary study seeks to pave the groundwork to provide a quantitative overview of the thematic evolution and conceptual structures concerning circular economy research. These findings are building a knowledge base to define a theoretical and methodological position for the next research steps in the context of the ECOSISTER project: development of models and evaluation systems based on organisational factors and HR practices to implement sustainability and the circular economy in industries operating in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy).