Circular economy
The circular economy (CE) is a general model for how resources are produced and consumed across industries and markets.
Resources are not just used and disposed of. Instead, they are shared, leased, reused, repaired, refurbished, and recycled as much as possible.
The circular economy contrasts against the linear economy.
The goal of the circular economy is to address issues such as:
- Waste
- Pollution
- Biodiversity loss
Still less than 10% of economic activity worldwide is circular (as of 2023).
The fundamental principles of the circular economy are:
- Make responsible use of natural inputs.
- Design waste and pollution out of processes.
- Maximize the utilization rate of assets.
- Circulate resources, goods, product components, and materials.
- Minimize and gradually phase out negative externalities.
Circularity
Circularity
From a business point of view, the concept of the circular economy seems to suffer the same problem as sustainability and ESG: they are all cost and compliance, without any clear return on investment (ROI).
Fortunately, the concept of circularity has been developed as a way for companies to:
- grow revenues by discovering new and untapped sources of value;
- optimize costs by reducing the consumption of raw materials;
- open up new market opportunities, especially in the B2B ecosystem; and
- gain competitive advantage by driving vertical integration.
Circularity goes far beyond the well-know trio of “reduce, reuse, and recycle”. It also employs refusing, renewing, redesigning, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, repurposing, and recovering. And it can even unlocks the tremendous power of upcycling (or transforming waste materials into new products of greater quality).
The best way to unlock the benefits of circularity is for companies to find the business model that is right for them, and then align the organisational culture to support and drive that model.
Circular business model guidance
We’re here to help you find the right circularity business model for your company.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution; instead, there are dozens of choices and possibilities.
Are you ready to unlock circularity opportunities now?
Circular organization guidance
But because culture eats strategy for breakfast, getting your circularity business model right is usually not enough. Without transforming into a circularity-embracing organization, execution can falter.
Are you ready to transform your company to embrace strategic and operational circularity now?
Circularity is certainly complex, and always challenging, but it doesn’t have to be complicated …