Is Sustainability Reporting Promoting a Circular Economy? Analysis of Companies’ Sustainability Reports in the Agri-Food Sector in the Scope of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and EU Taxonomy Regulation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Circular Economy
2.2. Sustainability and Sustainability Reporting
- Ecological aspects: Sustainable management of the natural system by preventing climate change, air and water pollution, resource depletion and biodiversity loss.
- Social aspects: Interaction between people, the reduction in inequality, the promotion of fair working conditions and investment in current/future generations.
- Economic aspects: Economic systems that meet current needs without compromising those of future generations, with a special focus on financial market stability.
2.3. Sustainable Financing
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Research Questions
- What has been the contribution of sustainability reporting by agri-food companies in relation to the circular economy so far?
- How is circular economy communicated by international agri-food companies in sustainability reports?
- To what extent does this communication about circular economy differ from findings in the literature?
- What differences can be identified with regard to the time course of sustainability reports of the agricultural and food sector?
- What is the significance of the Corporate Social Responsibility Directive and EU Taxonomy Regulation for promoting a circular economy?
- What changes will the two legal acts bring about in terms of communication about circular economy based on GRI?
- Can the concept of the circular economy be promoted by changing the reporting requirements?
3.2. Literature Section
3.3. Empirical Part: Analysis of Sustainability Reports
3.4. Empirical Part: Interviews with Experts
4. Results
4.1. Analysis of Sustainability Reports—Communication on Circular Economy in Sustainability Reports
4.2. Changes in Communication about Circular Economy Due to CSRD and Taxonomy Regulation
- Sales: Proportion of sales contributing to the environmental goal of a circular economy.
- CapEx: Proportion of investments that contribute to the environmental goal of a circular economy.
- OpEx: Share of operating expenses that contribute to the environmental goal of circular economy.
4.3. Expert Interviews—Reporting Requirements and the Promotion of Circular Economy
5. Discussion
5.1. Analysis of Sustainability Reports—Contribution of Sustainability Reporting on Circular Economy
5.2. Changes in Communication about Circular Economy Due to CSRD and Taxonomy Regulation
5.3. Expert Interviews—Reporting Requirements and the Promotion of Circular Economy
6. Conclusions
6.1. Discussion of Method and Limitations
6.2. Outlook
Author Contributions
Funding
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Company | Selected Reporting Years |
---|---|
Arla Foods | 2007, 2012, 2017, 2021 |
Agrana | 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 |
Associated British Foods | 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 |
Nestle | 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021 |
Cargill | 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 |
Type of Keywords | Terms Used |
---|---|
Direct keywords | ‘circular* economy’ or ‘circular business model’ or ‘circularity’ or ‘circular principles’ or ‘circular loop’ or ‘circular example’ or ‘circular solutions’ or ‘circular packaging’ or ‘circular targets’ or ‘circular material’ or ‘circular economics’ or ‘circular ways’ or ‘circular source’ or ‘circular thinking’ ‘cradle to cradle’ ‘resource circulat*’ or ‘material circulat*’ or ‘nutrient circulat*’. ‘service economy’ or ‘access-over-ownership’ ‘access-over-ownership’ or ‘product service system’ ‘nutrient cycle*’ or ‘biological nutrient*’ or ‘industrial nutrient*’ or ‘material cycle*’ or ‘nutrient cycle*’ ‘product shar*’ or ‘product exchange’ or ‘product-service’ or ‘repair economy’ or ‘product remanufactur’ ‘design for disassembly’ or ‘design for remanufacture*’ or ‘design for R’ or ‘design for recycle*’ or ‘circular design’ ‘decouple*’ ‘regeneration of*’ ‘retain value of resources’ or ‘value retention’. ‘durability’ or ‘longevity’ or ‘exten*’ or ‘prolong’ or ‘life cycle’ or ‘longer life’ ‘repairability’ or ‘repair’ or ‘disassembly*’ or ‘disassemble*’ ‘remanufacturing’ or ‘remanufacture’ ‘upgradeability’ or ‘upgrade’ ‘sharing’ or ‘pay-per-use’ ‘by-products’ or ‘co-products’ ‘substitution of*’ or ‘substitute’ ‘reduce* material*’ or ‘reduce* weight’ or ‘reduce* consumption’ or ‘reduce plastic’ or ‘reduce* resources*’ |
Explicit keywords | ‘recycled material*’ or ‘renewable material*’ or ‘renewability’ or ‘secondary material*’ or ‘materials used’ ‘recycl*’ or ‘recyclability’ ‘waste diver*’ or ‘divert waste’ or ‘waste reduc*’ or ‘reduce* waste’ or ‘waste reuse’ or ‘waste management’ or ‘total* waste’ ‘industrial ecology’ or ‘industrial symbiosis’ or ‘waste to resource’ or ‘waste-to-resource’ or ‘waste conver*’ or ‘waste avoid*’ or ‘waste prevention*’ or ‘prevention* of *waste’ or ‘total waste’ ‘renewable energy’ ‘enhanced product responsibility’ or ‘product stewardship’ ‘resource recovery’ or ‘material recovery’ ‘reuse* material’ or ‘reus*’ ‘resource* repurpose*’ or ‘repurpos*’ or ‘reclaimed’ or ‘reusab*’ or ‘resource efficien*’ ‘sustainable* procurement’ or ‘sustainable* sourcing’ or ‘sustainable* supply chain’ or ‘sustainable* value chain’ or ‘sustainable supply’ or ‘sustainably* sourced’ or ‘bio based’ ‘optimise resource use*’ or ‘resource use* optimisation’ ‘refurbish*’ ‘avoid* downcycling’ ‘reduce* litter’ ‘reduce* food loss’ or ‘reduce* food waste’ or ‘reduce post-harvest loss’. ‘optimize production’ or ‘optimize resources’ or ‘optimize waste’ |
Implicit keywords | ‘solar’ or ‘biomass’ or ‘hydro’ or ‘wind energy’ or ‘energy conservat*’ or ‘ISO 50000’ or ‘energy efficien*’ ‘virgin material’ or ‘traditional material’ or ‘raw material’ ‘waste generat*’ or ‘waste dispos*’ or ‘landfill*’ or ‘incinerat*’ or ‘combust*’ ‘ethical sourcing’ or ‘corporate social responsibility’ ‘Environmental* performance’ or ‘environmentally responsible*’ or ‘environmental responsibility’ or ‘environmentally sound’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘UN Global Compact’ or ‘Sustainable Development Goal* or ‘environmental impact*’ or ‘ISO 14001’ ‘carbon footprint’ or ‘greenhouse gas*’ or ‘GHG’ or ‘carbon emission*’ or ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘carbon neutral’ ‘waste segregat*’ or ‘material segregat*’ EMAS |
Other keywords | ‘single-use plastic’ or ‘single use plastic’ ‘rainwater harvest*’ ‘electric vehicle*’ ‘compost*’ or ‘effluent*’ or ‘zero waste’. |
(* is to be seen as a placeholder) |
Category | Definition |
---|---|
Conditional | The circular economy is seen as a prerequisite for achieving sustainability. |
Advantageous | The circular economy is seen as a way to achieve greater sustainability. |
Trade-off | The circular economy is assumed to lead to sustainability trade-offs (both positive and negative outcomes). |
Name | Consulting Firm | Position |
---|---|---|
Expert 1 | Think tank | Senior Manager |
Expert 2 | Think tank | Senior Consultant |
Expert 3 | Deloitte | Senior Manager |
Expert 4 | EY | Senior Consultant |
Expert 5 | EY | Senior Consultant |
Expert 6 | KPMG | Senior Consultant |
Expert 7 | SaMara | Senior Consultant |
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Overlap with GRI | Additions to GRI |
---|---|
Policies Actions Targets Resource inflow Waste | Products and materials Financial effects from resource use and circularity Green turnover, CapEx and OpEx |
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Falkenberg, C.; Schneeberger, C.; Pöchtrager, S. Is Sustainability Reporting Promoting a Circular Economy? Analysis of Companies’ Sustainability Reports in the Agri-Food Sector in the Scope of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and EU Taxonomy Regulation. Sustainability 2023, 15, 7498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097498
Falkenberg C, Schneeberger C, Pöchtrager S. Is Sustainability Reporting Promoting a Circular Economy? Analysis of Companies’ Sustainability Reports in the Agri-Food Sector in the Scope of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and EU Taxonomy Regulation. Sustainability. 2023; 15(9):7498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097498
Chicago/Turabian StyleFalkenberg, Christof, Carina Schneeberger, and Siegfried Pöchtrager. 2023. "Is Sustainability Reporting Promoting a Circular Economy? Analysis of Companies’ Sustainability Reports in the Agri-Food Sector in the Scope of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and EU Taxonomy Regulation" Sustainability 15, no. 9: 7498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097498