Entreprises et Histoire

DEVELOPING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF BUSINESS HISTORY AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Clotilde DRUELLE-KORN — 2023-04-01

The concept of the circular economy has grown in importance as more regions and states integrate it into their economic regulation. Evaluating its heuristic potential, however, requires taking some critical distance. In doing so, this article identifies some areas of confusion that arise when discussing
the concept. A literature review is conducted that highlights how social sciences are increasingly addressing the topic while the field of business history is not doing so to the same degree. In conclusion, the structure of this special issue of Entreprises et Histoire is outlined and directions for future research are suggested.

THE URBAN BY-PRODUCTS MARKET, FRANCE, LATE 18TH - EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Sabine BARLES — 2023-04-01

The use of urban by-products is frequent in European urban history. However, it experienced unprecedented growth in the 19th century and was one of the indicators of industrialization. Agricultural and industrial needs generated intense recovery activity, whether in the rag-picking sector (which did not only concern rags), in the nightsoil sector (urine and human excrement extracted from cesspools) or finally from that of street sludge. These sectors concerned a large number of workers and saw the birth and growth of a large number of companies. The patents were numerous, the profits sometimes considerable. It is the purpose of this article to analyze these recovery activities, which resonate with the current debates on the circular economy.

MANAGING SHORTAGE OR AVOIDING WASTE? THE CASE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURES AND EQUIPMENT IN SPAIN, 1936-C. 1960

Rafael CASTRO — 2023-04-01

This article seeks to identify whether the origins of the circular economy were already in place by the end of the 20th century. Historical analysis has highlighted that wartime often generates the conditions in which innovative actives thrive as scarcity and shortages require adaptation of
productive models. What is less well understood is how these changes occur, for how long they last and, specifically in this research, what role is played by adopting elements of the circular economy. This article examines a particular case of war and its aftermath: the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
and the First Franco regime (1939-1959) and it focuses on the railway sector. Our research traces the manner in which the railway companies and the State managed their limited resources using the circular economy almost sixty years before it had appeared as a concept. To do so, we analyze the
recycling and waste recovery programs of the different companies during the war. We then look in more detail at the case of one of the main railway infrastructure companies of the 1950s and 1960s, Ferrovial, whose success stems, in part, from the introduction of certain elements of circularity in its management. These two studies allow us to explore the historical links between scarcity and the circular economy.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY PRINCIPLE: FROM END-OF-LIFE OF PRODUCTS TO THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Helen MICHEAUX — 2023-04-01

The principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) was introduced in the 1990s when the volume of waste was soaring and when local authorities were becoming overwhelmed by both the mass and the increasing complexity of certain types of waste. The EPR response sought to make
producers responsible for the treatment or elimination of products after consumption. There were two objectives. On the one hand, EPR addresses the issue of financing the management of the end of life of certain types of products. On the other hand, by making producers contribute financially
to this management, EPR creates an incentive to design products that are more easily recyclable through eco-design. In this article, we explain how the EPR principle was implemented in France and outline how a system of co-regulation developed between public and private actors that combined
collective and individual responsibilities and that was regularly revised. We show how the EPR principle has evolved beyond the end-of-life of products to integrate issues related to prevention and the circular economy.

PIVOTER VERS L’ÉCONOMIE CIRCULAIRE : TRAJECTOIRES ET ENJEUX

Fabrice ABRAHAM — 2023-04-01

Trois ans après l’adoption en France de la loi contre le gaspillage et pour l’économie circulaire (AGEC), les entreprises font face à des enjeux
importants impliquant le passage d’une économie linéaire à une économie circulaire permettant d’envisager une transition environnementale
dans le monde industrialisé. Comment les entreprises agissent-elles face concrètement à ces enjeux ? Quelle est la trajectoire à la fois des
organisations et des acteurs engagés dans ces transformations ? Deux grands témoins ayant une vue d’ensemble des entreprises, des organisations
professionnelles et des filières REP (Responsabilité Élargie des Producteurs) Christian Brabant et Jacques Vernier, et deux industriels
engagés dans des pratiques circulaires concrètes, Fabrice Abraham et Gérard Bellet, sont réunis pour échanger sur ces éléments et les perspectives
qu’ouvre l’économie circulaire pour les entreprises. Ce débat a été enregistré le 6 février 2023.

CLIN D’OEIL RETOUR SUR LA CHASSE AU GASPI

Clotilde DRUELLE-KORN — 2023-04-01

Fin 1973, le premier choc pétrolier ébranle les économies. Le Premier ministre Pierre Messmer lance le programme d’équipement nucléaire : « Un programme Apollo à la française » comme le titrait récemment le quotidien Le Monde 1. Le Président Giscard d’Estaing en adopte les objectifs dès son élection en mai 1974. Dans la foulée, le gouvernement Chirac innove administrativement et fonde à l’automne une agence d’objectifs : l’Agence
pour les économies d’énergie (AEE) 2, placée successivement sous la direction de Jean Syrota (1974-1978) et de Jean Poulit (1978- 1981), père de la Chasse au Gaspi, objet de notre clin d’oeil. Un demi-siècle plus tard, la Première ministre Elisabeth Borne présente officiellement le plan de sobriété énergétique
du gouvernement 3, associé à un spot publicitaire : « je baisse, j’éteins, je décale » 4, destiné à sensibiliser les Français à ce que l’on
appelle désormais les éco-gestes.

En lisant les thèses récentes

Chloé Steux — 2023-04-01

Chloé Steux : De l'éco-conception aux éco-innovations
circulaires : cadrage et transformations des pratiques des
entreprises
par Nathalie Raulet-Croset
Carole Lamoureux : Le tuyau de fonte mussipontain à la
conquête du monde. Pont-à-Mousson et sa politique exportatrice
(1856-1970)
par Manuela Martini
Louis Bissières : Les ressources économiques du réseau au
défi de la mesure : les commerces de Levi Hollingsworth
(Philadelphie, fin xviiie siècle)
par Catherine Comet

METALLURGICAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE PYRÉNÉES BETWEEN THE 13TH AND 16TH CENTURIES

Florian TEREYGEOL — 2023-04-01

For medievalists conducting research on the circular economy, it is difficult to gather written and material sources at the level of the firm. The research outlined here was carried out over a long period of time and was based on rare documents. It focused on the central and eastern Pyrénées (from the
Couserans to the Canigou) from the 13th to the 16th century and looked specifically at metallurgical entrepreneurship. Certain practices were identified as part of the circular economy in this context: the control and optimisation of mining production, the valorisation of waste and products with a low added value, and the re-use of materials.

TIMBER PROCUREMENT BY THE COAL MINING INDUSTRY IN MODERN JAPAN

Asuka YAMAGUCHI — 2023-04-01

Hokkaidō Colliery & Railway Company (HCRC), renamed the Hokkaidō Colliery & Steamship Company (HCSC) in 1906, was a major coal mining company in Japan. This study examines the changes in timber procurement that occurred from the time that the company was established in 1898 to the end
of the Pacific war in 1945. The objective is to clarify, at the level of an individual firm, the relationship between industrialization on the one hand and both deforestation and forest conservation on the other. As the coal mining industry typically used a large amount of timber to support pit tunnels and
coal faces, some coal companies secured their supply by holding and managing their own forests. When the government transferred state forests to private companies, in order to promote the development of Hokkaidō island, HCSC expanded its activities to include the management of company-
owned forests and the planting of larch trees. HCSC still continued to procure timber from other sources, however, and its own forests were not just for timber supply yield but were also used as a buffer during supply shortages and market price increases. Occasionally, for example, HCSC used
timber from its own forests to discourage timber merchants from raising prices. As a result of this market-based rationale, HCSC considered abandoned forest conservation efforts during wartime when economic controls on prices were introduced. The findings of this case study suggest that
HCSC’s main priority was maintaining the sustainable procurement of mine timbers on the market, followed by that of conserving forest resources.

A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF BEVERAGE COMPANIES AND CONSIGNMENT: A EUROPEAN COMPARISON

Nicolas MARTY — 2023-04-01

The aim of this article is to trace the development of the practice of charging deposits for bottles to encourage their return. This practice occurred more or less widely at certain times in the industrial beverage packaging sector, and we investigate how it fits into the circular economy from the late 19th
century up until today. The paper focuses on France and compares its development to that of several other industrialized countries. It discusses the issues at stake for the various companies involved in these markets, from producers to retailers, including wholesalers and packaging manufacturers. Three
periods are identified. During the first one, between the 1880s and the 1930s, the deposit on bottles emerged as the main (but not the only) way to reuse bottles, and it involved a major element of circularity. Between the end of the 1930s and the end of the 1940s, in light of different shortages, States
intervened and this system was even more widely adopted. After the Second World War, using deposits on bottles became far less common in France as single use packaging was widely adopted and the linear economy grew. Subsequently, in an era of mass consumption, producers began to encourage
consumers to be more responsible in relation to the spread of litter. Consumers became more active participants in waste management as they were increasingly aware of the large-scale waste caused by disposable packaging. During this period, eco-organisms encouraged weak circularity by focusing
on recycling rather than reuse. More recently, bottle consignment is reemerging in a way that could generate strong circularity. Adopting a comparative approach highlights the differences in the uptake of the practice across countries and sectors. Studying the power balance between different types of
companies involved in the circular economy is thus fundamental to understanding its history.

HOW SUSTAINABLE IS THE RENAISSANCE OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY? FROM WEAK CIRCULARITY TO STRONG CIRCULARITY

Franck AGGERI — 2023-04-01

After long being ignored, the concept of the circular economy has re-emerged over the past decade in the form of a utopian solution and at the center of an ecumenical narrative in which it is presented as an alternative model to the linear economy. However, it is unclear what conditions need to be in
place in order for this renaissance to prove to be sustainable. This article examines the construction of the narrative of the circular economy over time with a view to understanding what is not necessarily made explicit and what the limits of this alternative solution might be. Two different versions
of the circular economy are outlined. A ‘weak circularity’ approach that simply adapts the dominant economic model and a ‘strong circularity’ model based on frugality and longer lifespans and more intense use of products.

EMBALLAGES ET BOISSONS NON ALCOOLISÉES DANS LA CONSTRUCTION DU Ve PLAN DE DÉVELOPPEMENT ÉCONOMIQUE ET SOCIAL (1965)

Benjamin FRANSKIN — 2023-04-01

L’après-Seconde Guerre mondiale apporte en Europe de l’Ouest de nombreuses transformations d’ordre tant économique que social, dont le développement de la consommation de boissons non alcoolisées, produites de manière industrielle. Cette tendance se retrouve en
France, avec la convergence de plusieurs phénomènes : la diffusion des législations antialcooliques, l’amélioration des techniques d’embouteillage, les transformations du système de distribution, la disponibilité de revenus et l’essor du marketing qui suscitent l’arrivée de nouveaux produits, comme les sodas 1, ou l’accroissement de la consommation de produits plus anciens tels que les sirops et autres eaux embouteillés 2. Les sodas ont pu s’implanter
comme nouvelles boissons, résultat à la fois de divers investissements américains, tant privés qu’issus du plan Marshall, et du besoin
de devises d’un gouvernement désireux de moderniser son appareil productif 3. C’est aussi le moment où se structurent des politiques
planificatrices dont le commissariat général du Plan est l’élément le plus marquant.

Nouvelles des archives : Ressources et pistes de recherche dans les collections de la Hagley Museum and Library

Clotilde DRUELLE-KORN — 2023-04-01

Nous sommes au sud de Philadelphie, à quelques kilomètres de Wilmington, dans le Delaware, minuscule État fédéré des Etats- Unis – à peine plus de 5000 km2 – aux législations si favorables aux entreprises qu’aux dires mêmes de son administration, 64 % des sociétés listées dans Fortune 500 ont décidé de s’y constituer 2. Là, sur les rives bucoliques de la Brandywine River, se trouve le site de la manufacture de poudres fondée en 1802 par Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (1771-1834), le chimiste et industriel d’origine française formé auprès d’Antoine Lavoisier. Depuis les années 1960 3, le lieu a été aménagé en une bibliothèque, un musée et un centre d’archives indépendants ayant pour objet l’histoire des entreprises, des techniques et technologies dans leurs rapports avec la société.