Approaching circular economy in an emerging economy: a solid-waste reutilization initiative in a small fresh market in Thailand

Fresh markets play crucial roles in everyday life in emerging economies such as Thailand. Operated by local governments or small companies, these facilities are regarded as less equipped actors for utilizing resources and handling environmental problems, including solid waste. Therefore, the operations of fresh markets are considered as a linear business model where materials and wastes are not efficiently utilized in the economic system. Taking the case of the Don Klang Market, Thailand, this research investigated how a strategic environmentally motivated corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative on solid waste can transform a linear flow of solid waste for realizing circular economy (CE). Through a society-wide social return on investment analysis, the results reveal that the strategic environmental CSR on solid waste creates impacts toward CE benefiting the company and stakeholders. Moreover, the study reveals that assistance is essential for small companies to take up a role in promoting CE. This research contributes to the improvement of solid-waste management and sheds some light on CE realization through CSR in the context of emerging economies.