The Digital Circular Economy

This dissertation examines how organizations can leverage digital technologies to overcome information gaps and enable circularity within the transition toward a circular economy. In light of escalating climate challenges, increasing resource scarcity, and the limitations of the prevailing linear economic system, the circular economy has emerged as a promising approach to foster more sustainable and regenerative production and consumption systems. However, organizations continue to face significant challenges in implementing circular practices, particularly due to fragmented and insufficient information across value chains and product life cycles. Building on the emerging concept of the digital circular economy, this dissertation investigates how digital technologies can help organizations link information flows to material flows to facilitate circularity. Positioned at the intersection of information systems and sustainability research, the dissertation explores the role of digital technologies as integral enablers of circular economy practices rather than merely supportive tools. Through multiple studies, the dissertation develops a deeper understanding of how organizations can utilize digital technologies to address information-related barriers and advance circular transformation efforts. Overall, this dissertation contributes to information systems research on sustainability and provides theoretical and practical insights into how digital technologies can help organizations realize the circular economy's potential and contribute to a more sustainable future.