Unlocking Market Transformation Through Circular Procurement: The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Experience

Abstract

This paper hypothesizes that knowledge sharing and collaboration among procurers can positively impact markets for circular products and services. To test this hypothesis, this paper evaluates an urban-scale experiment conducted in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA) from 2015 to 2024, involving 48 organizations. The circular procurement experiment was analyzed as a transition process facilitated by intermediaries. Detailed documentation was collected, including meeting minutes and individual interviews. No previous empirical studies cover a nine-year period and address all three levels: the micro-level of individual organizations, the meso-level (supply chain), and the macro-level (national), while also describing the transition process in detail. The qualitative analysis reveals the limitations of achieving significant impact by individual procurers, as well as the potential to fundamentally transform product chains at the meso-level (supply chain) and the macro-level (national) through a collective approach. The findings include a systematic overview of the scope of circular procurement, as well as the preconditions and enablers at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels necessary to foster innovation and markets for circular products and services. Only a limited number of barriers are key to accelerating circular procurement. Based on the findings, a structured, practical guide for implementing circular procurement is provided.