The number of reports, articles, and studies on circular economy is enormous and no doubt overwhelming. Sustainia has digested this massive pool of knowledge and has selected our top three must-read reports on circular economy.
Circular economy has been the talk of the town for years – and for years leading experts, analysts, consultant agencies and companies have published reports and studies describing the phenomenon. There are numerous publications describing the principles and state of circular economy, the possibilities, the barriers and the best examples.
We have gone through these massive amounts of publications and have picked the three that we find to be the most important to read, if you want to become updated on the circular economy.
The Climate
The Circular Economy – A Powerful Force for Climate Mitigation.
A study published by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, earlier this year. According to the report, a more circular economy can make deep cuts in emissions from heavy industry: in an ambitious scenario, as much as 296 million tons of CO2 per year in the EU by 2050, out of 530 million tons in total – and some 3.6 billion tons per year globally.
The Benefits
Mapping the benefits of a circular economy.
An article published in 2017 in the McKinsey Quarterly. The article argues that “most European industries can improve financial performance with specific actions to reconfigure product lifecycles”. Out of 28 industries participating in a study, all were shown to benefit by adopting some circular-economy activities,” the article concludes.
The Tools
A joint report by Boston Consulting Group and World Business Council for Sustainable Development has outlined 10 very useful recommendations for implementing circular economy. For instance, a transition requires consistent and strong top management support, as well as defining and aligning KPI to goals and accountability. Not least, – tell your investors about it, since these are increasingly considering sustainability.