SMEs and the circular economy: From policy to difficulties encountered during implementation

Circular economy is a concept that currently received a particular attention due to its contribution to the European objectives related to economic development under restrictive environmental conditions, in other words, the implementation of circular economy activities is essential to maintain and increase the competitiveness of the European economy. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of circular economy, of its different dimensions, and in the same time of the difficulties experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises in the process of implementing such activities, at national level. In order to achieve these objectives, data related to the activity of SMEs in Romania regarding circular economy, gathered within Flash Eurobarometer 441 coordinated by the European Commission during April 2016, were analysed. Although the European Union supports the green initiatives of small and medium-sized enterprises and encourages Member States to have similar behaviour, this paper concludes that national policies need to pay more attention to the training of workers and to support the development of the knowledge and professionalism, and concomitantly to reduce the degree of bureaucracy in assessing compliance of the activities carried out by SMEs in the field.