| Abstract |
Construction companies nowadays face many challenges connected with the changing technical, economic and social conditions in the micro- and macro-environment. Excessive and progressive industrialization is creating significant economic gaps, whereas at the same time, large quantities of natural resources are used and, as a result of the production, a lot of waste is created. Although, the Circular economy (CE) reached significant impact in many industries, in the building sector it is still perceived as a relatively new concept. Changes in legal regulations, business models and construction methods are necessary for an effective implementation of the CE. As far as such change is a value-adding novelty for the company, it can be treated as an innovation. However, innovations, as usually, require finances to become successful. This article describes basic conditions a company should meet to perform an effective transformation towards the CE. First, a literature review is performed to describe a specificity of the building sector and features of the construction companies in Poland. The latter covers also a financial analysis of 1485 random cases of enterprises. Second, a conceptual framework is developed to describe emerging Circular economy business models. Third, a simulation-based analysis is developed to check a propensity of the construction companies to implement the Circular economy and enhance its meaning in different types of economies. Finally, a set of remarks were generated. Underlying a company's condition as a factor of propensity to implement Circular Economy, it has to be noted that stable economies show higher predictability and therefore are more likely to implement principles of the CE than instable ones. Therefore, appropriate means to support poorer countries and improve their innovation activity could be developed. It is concluded that the European Commission should implement new rules, based on promoting closed-loop economy principles, for partnership agreements on the European structural and investment funds in the future. Thanks to such attitude the funds could appear as a solution for minimizing risk of the construction investment and as an encouragement of eco-innovation in the construction industry. |