Green growth, eco-innovation and sustainable transitions

Eco-innovation studies have expanded and consolidated over the last 15 years, starting from seminal contributions (Rennings 2000; Managi 2015). Those studies have helped linking economics, management and environmental sciences. Over the past years, with mounting emphasis after the 2008–2009 downturn, the role of eco-innovations (EI) has been included in policy settings that try to reconcile economic and environmental performances (EEA 2014).1 Green growth paradigms witnesses EI as the leading factor to achieve decoupling. Green economy strategies point to the role of EI as engine of productivity and employment increases. The new European circular economy action plan (EC 2015) focuses on new business models based on product and process EI that should create new markets, namely new sectors, new products, new social willingness to pay for greener and more recyclable goods. EI analyses should highly look at sector heterogeneity because ‘each industry is different when it comes to resource use, waste generation and management’ (EC 2015).