Sustainable waste management through eco-entrepreneurship: an empirical study of waste upcycling eco-enterprises in Sri Lanka

Autor: Caroline Baillie, Nilmini Liyanage, Randika Jayasinghe
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management. 23:557-565
ISSN: 1611-8227
1438-4957
DOI: 10.1007/s10163-020-01140-0
Popis: The key aim of a transition to a Green Economy is to enable economic growth and investment while increasing environmental quality and social inclusiveness. In this context, eco-entrepreneurship plays an important role. This paper focuses on three waste-based eco-enterprises in Sri Lanka, namely; Katana Upcycles, Paalam Products and Yaal fibre. All three eco-enterprises upcycle plastic waste. SWOT analysis and a Triple bottom line (TBL) Impact assessment were used to develop an integrated framework to understand the enablers, barriers and the impact they create. The study suggests that eco-enterprises achieve a mix of social, economic and environmental impacts through their businesses, including waste reduction, creating job opportunities and introducing eco-friendly alternatives to the market. These eco-enterprises face numerous challenges in sustaining their growth and scale-up. Challenges include limited access to funds, lack of business and marketing skills and access to suitable markets. The study suggests that providing networking opportunities and creating platforms for dialogue could support eco-enterprises to connect and build partnerships that will help in innovation, productivity enhancements and unlocking new market opportunities.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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