Incremental Circular Economy as a Serious Sustainability Problem (Report)
/Role: Lead-Author and project leader
Summary
Incremental Circular Economy as a Serious Sustainability Problem: How to turn the focus on circular economy into a driver for global sustainability
This paper explores how different interpretations of circular economy result in different approaches to sustainability. The aim is to provide guidance for companies, intrapreneurs in companies and organisations working with circular economy by providing a structure to understand different approaches and the outcome of these.
On the one hand it is obvious that we need to move away from linear material flows in society towards more circular flows. On the other hand, it is also obvious that the way some unsustainable companies, from fast fashion companies to car companies, are using the incremental interpretations of the concept circular economy is diverting the conversation away from their unsustainable business models.
In this paper the “plastic challenge”, with focus on plastics role for nutrition and health in society, is used as a case to illustrate different ways to understand the relation between business model innovation and a circular economy.
Three categories of circular economy strategies are introduced:
• Product focus: Avoiding Landfill and Increasing Renewable Materials
• Value-chain focus: Product as a Service for Sustainable Resource Efficiency
• Global sustainability focus: Global Sustainable Production and Consumption as a Goal and Driver
Link to the webpage at the Swedish EPA where the report was published