Enhancing circular economy through circular public procurement : A case study within the Swedish railway industry

Sammanfattning: Purpose: The study aims to identify essential barriers, enablers, and incentives for including circular requirements in tender specification, to facilitate the transition from linear to circular public procurement within the railway industry, thus enhancing a circular economy. This by answering the following research questions: RQ1: What barriers and enablers for circular public procurement within the railway industry exist, and how can the enablers overcome the barriers to facilitate the transition from linear to circular public procurement to enhance a circular economy? RQ2: How can public procurers be incentivized to undergo a transition from linear to circular public procurement within the railway industry? Method: To fulfill the purpose a qualitative case study has been carried out within the Swedish railway industry, focusing on rail vehicle procurement. The exploratory study is of an abductive approach where data have been collected through 22 semi structured interviews which were analyzed through the use of content and thematic analysis. Findings: The study results in a framework visualizing how identified barriers and enablers correspond, along with identified incentives for circular public procurement. The enablers: increase circular economy awareness, increase collaboration between procurer and supplier, translate circularity to economical terms and develop new approaches to circular requirement management are presumed to not only facilitate transition towards circular public procurement but also enhance a circular economy. Theoretical and practical contributions: This study contributes to the scarcity of literature on circular public procurement, especially within the railway industry. Firstly, by identifying the need for procurers and suppliers to collaborate before the initial stage of the public procurement process to increase awareness of circular economy, thus enabling circular requirement management. Secondly, by identifying incentives for circular public procurement.