circular economy is about.
become more profitable and robust by...
. reducing or avoiding costs
. creating new businesses and new revenue models
. building long-lasting relationships with customers
. building a competitive advantage
. improving brand and reputation
embracing the limits of the physical world.
There are limits to using fossil fuels, to replacing them with renewable electricity, to planting trees to offset greenhouse gas emissions, to depleting soils with industrial agriculture, to extracting ores to exploit critical metals, to exploiting sand to make concrete, etc.
Embracing the limits instead of fighting them generates high need for innovation .
managing the business risks of...
. access to resources and their cost
. dependence on highly demanded resources
. increasingly stringent environmental regulation
. introduction of externalities into the cost structure
. brand and reputation damage if no concrete actions are taken for the environment and society
changing perspective and paradigm.
Just because you've seen the duck* so far doesn't mean you can't start seeing the rabbit**...
A paradigm shift is a way of looking at things differently, leading to a new norm.
* The duck's beak is on the left and it is looking to the left
** The bunny's ears are on the left and it is looking to the right
beware of misconceptions.
"Circular economy is about waste and recycling."
Good Lord no !
Circular economy is about design !
And designing out waste and pollution to be more profitable in a safer and more welcoming environment.
Recycling is fine... only if it is about products that have been designed to be properly and efficiently recycled, after all the other options have been ruled out.
Because remember, recycling forces you to go through your whole value chain again: starting from scrap is equal to starting from scratch .
"Pollution is a necessary evil for business profitability."
Neither this is true ! This idea is hardly more than two centuries old.
You can transform your environmental and societal impact from negative to positive and also reduce costs and risks. You will come out more profitable.
"Circular economy will turn my business upside down."
It is not the circular economy that will disrupt your business. It is the current system that has reached its limits. It is the approach to the limits of the physical world that will disrupt your business and has already begun to do so. On the contrary, the circular economy will help you transform your company so that it will still be there in a few generations.
In practice, let's say that looking at things differently does not necessarily imply doing something else. What matters is to consider the services you offer to your customers. The next question is whether the current way is the only way to achieve this.
"Circular economy is for tree-huggers."
You can adopt the circular economy for environmental or societal reasons... as well as for reasons of economic profitability.
Starting from the economic point of view, you generate collateral benefits at the environmental level.
And if you take the environmental angle, you'll end up with improved profitability.
It sounds very much like a win-win situation .