Circular Economy, Industrial Symbiosis, Business Model Innovation and the Transition to Innovation Ecosystems. How Different Size Firms can Collaborate Fostering a Sustainable Business?

The growing importance of sustainability has redefined economic development processes, shifting from a linear structure to a circular vision, due to the linear economic model’s lack of attention to resource quantification and waste management, giving priority to production processes, employment, value cre-ation, product distribution and sales. This paper examines the relationship between the circular economy, industrial symbiosis, territorialisation processes, industrial districts and business model innovation. The paradigm shift aims to minimise environmental impact and generate synergies for innovative ecosystems. For this reason, it is necessary to examine the relationship between these phenomena, and this paper provides a review of the existing literature. The results of this research show the importance of the product life cycle in business model innovation and the implementation of circularity. Combining the different stages of the product life cycle with the issues and challenges of CE and BM innovation appears to be fundamental to promoting IS among companies of different sizes and with dif-ferent roles. In this sense, sustainable production objectives are supported by the integration of innovation into SBMs, recognising external factors such as society, the environment, the market and stakeholders in value propositions.