A critical analysis of the critiques surrounding the sustainability of circular economy : an authenticity assessment of circular economy practices in the plastic industry in Ghana

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) has gained prominence as a strategy to reduce waste and decouple economic growth from resource depletion. However, the practical implementation of circular business models (CBMs) in developing-country contexts remains poorly understood. This study evaluates the adoption, challenges, and sustainability outcomes of CE practices in Ghana’s plastic sector, through a mixed-methods design involving surveys and semi-structured interviews with manufacturers, packaging companies, recyclers, diversified firms, and informal actors. The findings reveal a sector engaged in early, reformist circularity, active yet constrained, pragmatic yet fragmented. The research indicates that CE understanding is often limited to recycling, with minimal attention to upstream strategies such as redesign, reuse, and product life extension. Business type and size significantly shape CE adoption patterns: packaging firms exhibit the lowest uptake of recycled content, manufacturers remain dependent on virgin materials due to strict quality requirements, while medium-to-large firms demonstrate the most balanced and dynamic engagement through industrial symbiosis and structured waste systems. SMEs and cottage industries practice grassroots circularity driven by necessity rather than strategy. Across all groups, contextual barriers including weak enforcement, high technology costs, dependence on fossil energy, and inadequate infrastructure limit environmental and social outcomes. Social sustainability remains inconsistently integrated, with informal waste workers facing persistent inequities despite their central role in material recovery. To synthesise these dynamics, the study proposes an emergent conceptual framework positioning business characteristics (type and size) as key determinants of environmental and social CE outcomes, moderated by regulatory, market, and technological conditions termed as contextual factors. The analysis recommends corporate strategies for implementing circularity are tailored to firm size and business model. It further positions Ghana's CE landscape as a mirror of worldwide CE critiques, ambitious in theory but limited in practice while emphasizing the importance of livelihood, equality, and adaptive rationality in building sustainable transitions in developing countries.