Project: Addressing consumer behaviour and circularity related to recycling of window glass
The project deals with the complex problem that known technical solutions are not being utilized by companies, because of the lack of recycling systems and uncertainty of the soft aspects of customer acceptance and demand.
Project information
Project manager
Professor Helena Forslund, School of Business and Economics
Other project members
Associate professor Soniya Billore, School of Business and Economics
Visiting Professor Maria Björklund, School of Business and Economics & Linköping University
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University; Växjö kommun
Financier
The research collaboration between Växjö municipality and Linnaeus University
Timetable
1 november 2020 – 30 april 2022
Subject
Logistics (Department of Accounting and Logistics, School of Business and Economics)
Marketing (Department of Marketing, School of Business and Economics))
More about the project
Through literature reviews and contacts with different window glass stakeholders (glass experts, recycling experts, industry organization, construction and property companies, architects, and façade developers), we have identified the enablers and barriers of sustainable consumption among commercial flat glass users, and the possibilities for different circular flows or Closed Loop Supply Chains (CLSC) related to the reuse of intact windows or the remelting of crushed glass.
We interpreted that the fact that only 1% of window glass is recycled in Sweden is because of large challenges in awareness and attitude towards sustainable flat glass usage, the existing infrastructure for flat glass, and the information flow related to the different types of CLSCs. Consumption-based attitudes related to the waste hierarchy, particularly for recycling and reusing, were explored through theoretical conceptualization of sustainable consumption and the aspects of obsolescence. While this shed light on the technological, psychological, and emotional barriers to sustainable consumption, it also helped to identify critical nodes of new agency in the flat glass ecosystem and relevant opportunities for novel marketplaces.
The ambition of the project is to assess the results of the two components of the study-namely consumption and circularity, so that a new framework or process map can be drafted to integrate the identified stakeholders and position new marketplaces within the process map so as to increase the overall possibilities for an improved circularity within the glass ecosystem.
Publications
Conference paper (Refereed)
Forslund, H.., Björklund, M.., Lindblad, F. (2021). Challenges in closed loop supply chain for window glass. Proceedings from the 33th Nofoma conference.
Forslund, H., Björklund, M., Lindblad, F. (2021). Cirkulära flöden för återvinning av fönsterglas – utmaningar, modeller och tänkbara lösningar. Presented at Plans forsknings- och tillämpningskonferens, Borås, Sweden, October 20-21, 2021.
Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Refereed)
Billore, S. (2021). Consumer perceptions for sustainable use of flat glass – a study of enablers and barriers. Proceedings of the international conferences onapplied management advances in the 21st century 2021 (AMA21 2021).