Circular business models are often presented as solutions that can be designed, tested and scaled across sectors and countries. In practice, however, they depend on the conditions around them: infrastructure, regulation, standards, customer trust, material markets and the legitimacy of circular practices.

This paper translates findings from comparative research on circular business model implementation in contrasting institutional contexts into practical lessons for firms, policymakers and circular economy intermediaries.

The central insight is that circular business models are not universal templates. The same model can face very different opportunities and barriers depending on whether the surrounding system is ready to support it.