ABSTRACT
Being part of the circular economy, Product-Service Systems (PSS), are believed to be among the systems that can contribute to the challenges of the transition to more sustainable societies. However, true sustainability is an ambitious goal as it implies the simultaneous consideration for economic, environmental, and social concerns. Up to now, PSS have not fully fulfilled the expectations that many authors had for them as they were mainly developed having economic much more than environmental concerns at heart. This contribution tries to discuss whether PSS could better be implemented in a true triple bottom line spirit if established and run by social economy cooperatives. In order to do so, we provide a systematic review of the very few papers articulating PSS and cooperatives. Then, based on two theoretical frameworks (Multi-Level Perspective and the five conditions to meet in order to increase the sustainability potential of PSS), we discuss the comparative advantages of social economy cooperatives in the establishment of PSS.
