Turning Cellulose into Circularity: Sustainable Approaches in the B2B Paper Industry

As sustainability becomes increasingly central to both academic research and industrial strategy, B2B firms are under pressure to reshape their innovation processes to align with circular economy principles. This paper explores how companies in the paper industry develop and deploy sustainability-oriented innovations, with a specific focus on the interplay between endogenous and exogenous sources of innovation. Endogenous innovations stem from internal capabilities such as R&D and strategic vision, while exogenous innovations emerge through interactions with external actors across the business ecosystem. Grounded in the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) perspective, the study adopts a comparative case analysis of two paper companies operating in different geographical and organizational contexts. Data were collected through interviews and company documents between 2023 and 2024. The analysis highlights how circularity is not achieved in isolation but through evolving interdependencies among firms, requiring coordination, mutual adaptation, and co-development. The findings reveal that advancing circularity demands both internal innovation dynamics and active engagement in collaborative networks. Sustainability is thus framed not as a fixed blueprint, but as a process shaped by the firm’s capacity to mobilize resources and align with broader systemic efforts. This research contributes to understanding circular innovation as a relational and context-sensitive phenomenon in B2B settings.