This study explored the size and potential of green employment for circular economy (CE) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union, and investigated the role of green jobs and skills for the implementation of CE practices. The data were collected in a Eurobarometer survey, and refer to resource efficiency, green markets, and CE procedures. Lack of environmental expertise is one of the factors that might be perceived as an obstacle when trying to implement resource-efficiency actions. Previous research has shown that, although resource-efficiency practices are adopted by firms in all European countries, there are differences both within and between countries. The analysis of the determinants of green behavior by European SMEs was completed by a study of heterogeneity across firms and within countries with a multilevel latent class model, a hierarchical clustering method. A general important observation is that having no workers dedicated to green jobs is strongly correlated to the probability of adopting resource-efficiency practices, while perceiving the need of extra environmental skills has a positive effect on the intention to implement actions in the future. Other characteristics of the firms play a significant impact on resource efficiency: in general, older and bigger firms, with larger yearly turnover, are more prone to implement actions.

This research focuses on SMEs in the EU and their acceptance of circular economy practices, with a special attention to the structural characteristics that might be significant drivers. Eight indicators of environmentally friendly practices are studied: water saving, energy saving, renewable energy, material saving, waste reduction, sale of waste materials, waste recycling, and eco-designed products. A sample of European SMEs from EU-28 data (countries at the time of the survey) is used to test hypotheses through eight multilevel probit regression models. Company- and country-level covariates are added to the multilevel models. The results showed that the number of employees, the business sector and the type of products/services sold have an impact on environmentally friendly practices. On the other hand, at the national level, per capita GDP and greenhouse gas emissions are the most relevant factors in the eight models. These findings are relevant for the implementation of the European Green Deal, which aims to increase resource efficiency through the transition to a cleaner EU and circular economy.

This paper examines the willingness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (EU) to implement Circular Economy (CE) practices, i.e. re-planning the use of water to reduce consumption and maximize reuse, using of renewable energy sources, re-planning energy consumption to reduce its use, reducing waste by recycling or reusing waste or selling it to another company, redesigning products and services to reduce the use of materials or using recycled materials. These aspects are conceived as indicators of the willingness to implement CE practices, which is explained by factors at the company and country levels.The dataset comes from a unique survey involving more than 10,000 SMEs in the EU. This hierarchical structure – companies within countries – was analyzed using a multilevel factor model that takes into account the heterogeneity between countries. The variables at the company-level are: company size (number of employees and total turnover in 2015), company foundation, sector of economic activity, type of clients and goods, and percentage of the turnover invested in R&D. Country-level covariates cover different dimensions of sustainability: per capita GDP, illiteracy rate, waste generation, and corruption perception index.At the levels of company and country, there are factors that explain the attitude towards CE. Finally, factor scores at both levels show a split between Western and Eastern European countries (with few exceptions) regarding the willingness of SMEs to implement CE activities that define the regional implications of EU policies towards CE, in particular in the context of the European Green Deal.