Getting ready for Circularity.

 
 

Rademaker Consulting published a management book for organizations that are not active yet - but willing to make a contribution - in the Circular Economy.

This book is a starting point and guide for any business decision maker who wants to contribute their skills towards the CE transition. It dives into the concept of a CE, and its underlying principles. It encourages the reader to recognize the opportunity in front of them, and their own professional role in the transition. Even though it is acknowledged that everyone has a role to play, this book focuses on ambitious actions from decision makers.

It includes eight easy-to-understand areas that can be used by every individual, regardless of their specific country, sector, or department. All visualizations and chapter summaries are co-created with Tekensmit Elly Smit. These visualizations are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0.

 

GETTING READY FOR CIRCULARITY

A GUIDE TO IMPLEMENT & ACCELERATE A GLOBAL CIRCULAR ECONOMY

  • Contribute to the circular ecosystem

    Transitioning to a circular system starts by realizing that you are part of an ecosystem and therefore your individual and organizational behavior needs to adjust and align with this reality. This key area elaborates on the contribution we can make to the ecosystem(s) that we are part of, pathways of innovating the ecosystem, and adding unique value to its flows of materials and energy, knowledge, and (economic) value.

  • Take down- and upstream responsibility

    Entire supply chains are transforming to shift from linear to fully circular and every single actor can actively contribute to accelerate the transition. This key area highlights the choices one has in taking and stretching the responsibilities in the value chain, both down- and upstream. Examples of such responsibilities are provided in three categories: Circular design choices, true prices of circular products or services, and a waste-free economy.

  • Enjoy benefits of multi-actor collaboration:

    Systemic change is possible with proper governance in place and if embraced on a global scale. Despite existing barriers to global collaboration to accelerate the CE transition, this key area elaborates on the profound benefits for all actors involved once setting up collaborations in favor of a CE.

  • Increase data transparency

    Relevant manufacturing information of a single product or service alone does not provide the required insights to monitor our progress towards a global CE. This key area expresses the need and benefits for a standardized manner of capturing data in all business processes (including design, usage, and end-of-life scenarios) to understand if we succeed in eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials at their highest value, and regenerating nature (the three core principles of a CE).

  • Create, capture, and retain value

    In the current linear economy, value loss takes place at a large scale. Avoiding this requires a new approach to the creation, capturing, and retaining of value. This key area dives into the concept of value in (pre- and post-) usage phases of a product or service and how to apply related conceptual frameworks in practice.

  • Unlock circular opportunities

    CE offers a tremendous (economic) opportunities in the long-term. However, short-term objectives and metrics still lead most decision makers today. This key area elaborates on linear risks versus circular opportunities to boost economies, spur innovation and translate circular ambitions into measurable KPIs.

  • Measure of success

    The current lack of consensus across relevant circular measurement frameworks, together with the ever-increasing demands from stakeholders (including planet Earth) creates a challenging environment for businesses. This key area dives into existing tools for measuring success, and what information organizations will need to provide to comply with (reporting) standards.

  • Improve continuously

    The concept of CE implies a systematic and fundamental shift from linear growth. Even though the principles of a CE are clear, the roadmap to getting there might change over time. This key area highlights the importance of continuous improvements made in all seven areas mentioned above to quickly adapt to new developments in this field and remain competitive.

 

 “We can live in a world that we design”