Is Circular Also Sustainable? Assessing Circularity and Sustainability to Enhance Legitimacy in Agri-Food Industry

Abstract

The agri-food industry faces major sustainability challenges, requiring a shift in companies' approach. Circular economy principles offer a promising path by enhancing resource efficiency, reducing waste, and valorizing by-products. However, the integration of sustainability and circularity practices remains limited, especially in developing effective, sector-specific assessment models. This study addresses the gap by proposing a novel self-assessment framework based on mixed methods, to evaluate sustainability and circularity performance. It combines ESG dimensions with 10 circular R-strategies, offering a dual-level assessment. Legitimacy theory underpins the framework, highlighting that firms pursue sustainable and circular practices not only for compliance but also to gain social acceptance. The framework is validated through a multiple case study of three agri-food firms. Results show that circularity is not always equivalent to sustainability, revealing differing levels of strategy adoption. This research contributes a comprehensive, practical tool to support sustainable innovation and measure circularity in agri-food.