Integrating Circular Economy and Enterprise Risk Management for Diverse Industries

This paper formulates and substantiates a pragmatic integration of enterprise risk management and the circular economy (ERM–CE), facilitating resource-limited organisations in diminishing their environmental impact while enhancing operational and financial outcomes. The study uses a field-tested ERM–CE framework that was used in eleven small pottery businesses in West Bengal, India, as a starting point. It then adapts and translates the framework for use in other industries, such as textiles, food processing, electronics, and logistics. The baseline shows that aligning risk processes with life-cycle stages according to ISO 14040/14001 and using CE levers across procurement, production, distribution, consumption, and reverse logistics can lead to quantifiable improvements without needing more resources. In the pilot, 62–88 percent of pottery SMEs said their operations and finances got better at all stages of the business cycle, with an average improvement of 78 percent. Environmental sustainability got better for 61–100 percent of SMEs at all stages.