Sustainable business practices are often seen as a luxury that only rich countries can afford. And these days, some of the biggest economies, including the U.S., are backtracking on those commitments.

But what if businesses had an incentive to adopt practices that help the environment because it made sense for the bottom line?

We are researchers of business and sustainability who ran projects in both Jordan and the U.S. to see how entrepreneurs could adopt environmentally friendly practices in their day-to-day operations. In essence, we tried to embed in their business model the principle known as “circularity”: Products and materials should stay in use as long as possible through repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recovery rather than just being thrown away.

We found that these ideas worked best when they served what business founders were already trying to do, rather than when presented as a separate cause. And entrepreneurs responded best when sustainability was framed as an opportunity rather than an obligation and was connected to what they already cared about.

We argue that the adoption of such practices, more generally, shouldn’t require businesses, whether established or just starting up, to choose between profit and sustainability. Often, the two point in the same direction. When startup founders build products that last longer, recover more value from materials and reduce dependence on fragile supply chains, they often create a more robust business. The environmental benefits follow naturally.

Frustration, then progress, in Jordan

We spent two years inside an entrepreneurship program in Jordan, from 2021-23, trying to help founders build successful businesses around circularity. What we learned surprised us.

Our first cohort looked promising on paper, consisting of 18 recruited participants with formal knowledge of business and sustainability. We then assigned them to specific waste sectors, such as polyester waste, divided among........

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