The concept of Circular Economy has gained the attention of scholars, policymakers, and businesspeople, who see it as a novel approach for addressing the economic and environmental issues caused by the traditional linear model of production and consumption. The scientific literature suggests that companies can innovate their business model by introducing circularity elements with the support of digital technologies. However, there is a lack of empirical studies investigating how much digitalization is intertwined with Circular Economy in the strategic agenda of businesses. To address the above research gap, we focused on large companies, because of their leadership in global markets and capacity to influence stakeholders. We applied content analysis to the corporate sustainability reports of the companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe. Our results show that the connection between digitalization and Circular Economy is still poorly reported and accounted by large European companies, Despite the recent interest towards Circular Economy – especially in some specific industries – a finalized and organic discussion in the strategic-organizational dimension for designing and implementing circular Business Models does not yet emerge in a clear way.
Keywords: Non-financial Disclosure, Circular Business Model, Digitalization, Sustainable Reporting
