Motivations and drivers for adopting sustainability and circular business strategies in businesses in Victoria

With the need to transition to a Circular Economy being highlighted at government and industry level, business research has focused on how firms incorporate circular business practices. However, there is a lack of research on what motivates and drives businesses to implement environmental and CE practices, specially from an Australian context. This research aims to understand what factors drive and motivate businesses to implement sustainability practices, using a survey distributed among businesses operating in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major motivation for businesses to implement actions was the belief of doing the right thing. Although financial returns were not considered a major driver, the results reveal that firms may not implement environmental activities if it is not financially viable. The responses also illustrate that understanding of CE-related terminology within businesses were low, and that this could be a result of common terms used within the Australian context. Improving the ethical and moral conscience of business decision makers and incorporating wider CE actions into the general concept of doing the right thing could increase businesses implementing CE practices more broadly.