Toward a Platform‐Driven Business Model to Enhance Circular Economy Practices: Insights From the European Photovoltaic Industry

Abstract

The rapid growth of the photovoltaic industry is expected to significantly increase the demand for raw materials and the growing volume of modules entering the waste stream at the end‐of‐life stage. To address these challenges, the industry must not only focus on technological innovation but also adopt new business models that enable an economically viable circular economy. Circular business models are essential to this transition, focusing on resource efficiency, recovery, and regenerative design to minimize waste and maximize value creation. Digitalization, particularly driven by platform ecosystems, is identified as a key enabler for circular business models, facilitating collaboration, traceability, and information sharing across dynamic value chains. Despite the promise of platform ecosystems, little research has explored the development of platform‐driven business models in the European solar industry, particularly by integrating stakeholder collaboration aspects to enhance recycling efforts. Therefore, this study aims to achieve the following objectives: (1) identify the value propositions that underpin a platform‐driven business model to advance recycling practices in the European solar industry and (2) explore how stakeholder perspectives can be effectively incorporated into platform‐driven business models to enhance circular economy practices. Using 15 interviews with stakeholders from the European solar industry and two frameworks—the Value Proposition Canvas and Ecocanvas—this study develops a conceptual model to guide the design and the implementation of platform‐driven circular business models. This study advances the current discourse by showing that circular platforms depart from conventional assumptions of mutual benefit: Participation must be actively governed into existence to ensure that actors holding essential data have incentives to share it.