Table 1

Identification of network and collaboration-related challenges of CE

Network and collaboration-related challenges in CE transitions identified in the existing literatureReferenceIdentified category of the challenge
Operational barriers related to lack of infrastructure to close the loopKhan et al. (2022) Need for new actors, resources and activities
Technological challenge related to lacking infrastructure of waste managementGrafström and Aasma (2021) Need for new actors, resources and activities
Difficulties to close the loop when many necessary actors are outside the scope of the traditional value chain, sometimes even transcending across industriesKanda et al. (2021) Need for new actors, resources and activities
The struggles of coordinating interorganizational activities that formerly were considered to be too different to be coordinated such as previously unrelated activities across industriesHarrison et al. (2023a, b) Need for new actors, resources and activities
Firms need to change from being firm-centric to becoming network-centric and think of more than gains and losses of the single firmKhan et al. (2022) Holistic multi-actor collaborations
Division of costs and benefits related to collaboration in the network at different levels (micro-meso-macro)Khan et al. (2022) Holistic multi-actor collaborations
Social challenge related to weak cooperation throughout the supply-chainGrafström and Aasma (2021) Holistic multi-actor collaborations
CE implementations are challenging due to different stakeholders’ interests, expectations, and influenceToth-Peter et al. (2023) Holistic multi-actor collaborations
Limits of governance and management: Intra-organizational and intra-sectoral management of interorganizational and intersectoral physical flows of materials and energyKorhonen et al. (2018) Holistic multi-actor collaborations
Managing collaborations of a wide variety of stakeholders with often different interests and worldviewsDzhengiz et al. (2023) Holistic multi-actor collaborations
Resource-intensive infrastructure causing lock-in and path dependenceDe Jesus and Mendonça (2018) Restructuring existing networks
Technical solutions for CE often have limited practical application due to economic and market limitationsDe Jesus and Mendonça (2018) Restructuring existing networks
Limits posed by path-dependency and lock-in: first technologies retain their market position despite in-efficiencyKorhonen et al. (2018) Restructuring existing networks
New CE business models necessitates interorganizational cooperation and interorganizational sustainability management which require clarifying; who is the leader in the network, who bears the biggest responsibility, who gains the most from the network operation, who loses the most if the project is unsuccessful or faces the biggest risks, what is the overall budget of the network, who controls it and which actors contribute to it, what is the network decision-making platform, who organizes it etc.Korhonen et al. (2018) Restructuring existing networks
Structural barriers such as unclear distribution responsibility and changes in supply chains causing disruptionsKhan et al. (2022) Restructuring existing networks
Integration of CE strategies transcends the business boundaries, which requires mobilization and integration of other actors making the coordination problematicToth-Peter et al. (2023) Restructuring existing networks
Source(s): Authors’ work

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