Individual datasets that do not belong to any series.
The Circular Economy Business Barometer examined Finnish companies' awareness of the circular economy, their circular economy actions, and the relationship between circular economy practices and business operations. The survey also explored company representatives' views on the significance of the circular economy in terms of corporate values and business strategy. The barometer was conducted by the Finnish Environment Institute as part of the Circwaste Life IP project, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The survey first assessed familiarity with the term "circular economy" and respondents' evaluations of the importance of various actions related to it. It then explored the relevance of circular economy principles to company values and identified which circular economy practices were integrated into business operations. These included activities related to recycling, the sharing economy, and reducing material and energy consumption. The survey also investigated whether companies provide circular economy-related training for staff or conduct environmental impact assessments.
Respondents were asked to evaluate the effects of circular economy practices on their company to date, including impacts on competitiveness, production efficiency, business and growth opportunities, costs, and regulatory experiences. The survey further gathered opinions on how companies should be supported in transitioning to a circular economy. Finally, respondents were asked whether their company sorts municipal waste and whether they have encountered challenges in doing so.
Background variables in the dataset include the company's offerings, industry sector, number of employees, operational area, growth objectives, and average annual turnover. Respondents were also asked to describe their role within the company.
The cover letter for the business survey was sent to 5,000 companies selected from the Dun & Bradstreet Selector company database. The sample was stratified to reflect the national distribution of companies in terms of size, sector, and geographical location. The survey and cover letter were available in Finnish and Swedish, and respondents could choose which language to use. The cover letter instructed that the survey could be answered by anyone responsible for environmental matters or research and development within the company, and it could be forwarded to a suitable respondent internally. The cover letters were sent on 24.1.2023, and no reminders were issued. To increase the number of responses, an additional sample was later drawn from Taloustutkimus' online panel, which includes 1,500 business decision-makers from across Finland. Invitations were sent to 1,431 of these companies. The total sample size was 6,431 companies. The target group of the survey consisted of all types of businesses operating in Finland across all sectors, excluding the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors (TOL 2008: A).