Reports such as the "Estudio Oportunidades de Negocio que ofrece el ecodiseño a las empresas de Euskadi [Study of Business Opportunities of Eco-design for Basque Companies], Fundación Orkestra, Ihobe, 2017" identify a number of barriers companies face in implementing more circular strategies or practices. The most important are in three areas:

• Innovation
• Investment and new business models
• Access to new markets and customer requirements

For example, the high cost of new innovation models makes it necessary for companies to seek alternative financing models — an aspect that is particularly difficult for SMEs.