Knowledge Agora

Title	From greenwashing to ESG-washing: A focus on the circular economy field
ID_Doc	2454
Authors	Todaro, DL; Torelli, R
Title	From greenwashing to ESG-washing: A focus on the circular economy field
Year	2024
Published
Abstract	In the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) today, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors play a fundamental and increasingly central role in the evaluation of corporate performance worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the recent phenomenon of ESG issues has given rise to a new form of greenwashing in a broad sense, not limited to the environmental sphere, but also extended to social and governance issues. The paper examines whether companies engaged in the transition to sustainable and in particular to circular models are actually focusing on concrete sustainable actions and less on distorted communication. Specifically, ESG performance measures were collected for 366 companies from the most impactful industries in different countries around the world to test the relationships between ESG performance, adoption of circular economy models and 'washing' practices related to stakeholder communication. As the transition to sustainable and circular models requires not only substantive action but also transparency, further research and efforts are needed to better understand the relationship between these elements in corporate behavior.
PDF

Similar Articles

ID	Score	Article
3505		Opferkuch, K; Walker, AM; Lindgreen, ER; Caeiro, S; Salomone, R; Ramos, TB Towards a framework for corporate disclosure of circular economy: Company perspectives and recommendations(2023)Corporate Social Responsibility And Environmental Management, 30, 5
967		Salvioni, DM; Almici, A Transitioning Toward a Circular Economy: The Impact of Stakeholder Engagement on Sustainability Culture(2020)Sustainability, 12, 20
2705		Opferkuch, K; Caeiro, S; Salomone, R; Ramos, TB Circular economy in corporate sustainability reporting: A review of organisational approaches(2021)Business Strategy And The Environment, 30, 8
4717		Dagiliene, L; Frendzel, M; Sutiene, K; Wnuk-Pel, T Wise managers think about circular economy, wiser report and analyze it. Research of environmental reporting practices in EU manufacturing companies(2020)
3622		Dorado, AB; Leal, GG; Vila, RD Environmental policy and corporate sustainability: The mediating role of environmental management systems in circular economy adoption(2022)Corporate Social Responsibility And Environmental Management, 29, 4
4230		Opferkuch, K; Caeiro, S; Salomone, R; Ramos, TB Circular economy disclosure in corporate sustainability reports: The case of European companies in sustainability rankings(2022)
4042		Mora-Contreras, R; Torres-Guevara, LE; Mejia-Villa, A; Ormazabal, M; Prieto-Sandoval, V Unraveling the effect of circular economy practices on companies' sustainability performance: Evidence from a literature review(2023)
2659		Palea, V; Migliavacca, A; Gordano, S Scaling up the transition: The role of corporate governance mechanisms in promoting circular economy strategies(2024)
66789		Torelli, R; Balluchi, F; Lazzini, A Greenwashing and environmental communication: Effects on stakeholders' perceptions(2020)Business Strategy And The Environment, 29, 2
2066		Heras-Saizarbitoria, I; Boiral, O; Testa, F Circular economy at the company level: An empirical study based on sustainability reports(2023)Sustainable Development, 31, 4