Organizing for circularity: Actor interaction and adaptation in the emerging ecosystems for reusing large used building parts in Norway

Abstract

The transition to a circular economy requires firms to move beyond linear supply chains and organize across multi-actor ecosystems. In the construction sector which accounts for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions and produces vast amounts of waste, reusing large building parts is a critical but complex challenge. This paper investigates how actors in the Norwegian construction industry organize, interact, and adapt to enable circular ecosystems for the reuse of large building parts. Based on 24 semi-structured interviews and secondary data collected between 2022 and 2024, we map the emerging ecosystems and analyze the practices through which managers mobilize others. The findings reveal a layered ecosystem involving existing actors, new entrants, anchor actors and regulators, where roles and interdependencies are still being negotiated. Mobilization practices such as motivating, coordinating, and consolidating are central, but they unfold as iterative and contested processes in the face of economic barriers, regulatory uncertainty, and co-opetition dynamics. We contribute to the industrial network approach and circular economy research by showing how circular ecosystems are enacted through continuous mobilization across diverse actors, and by highlighting tensions as constitutive features of organizing for circularity.