Within one month since the world agreed to combat climate change at COP21 in Paris, The Netherlands is launching Netherlands Circular Hotspot (NLCH), a campaign spearheading the transition to a circular economy. The campaign builds on the fact that the country has become a hub for innovation and implementation of a circular economy with the desire to share that knowledge and learn from others across Europe and the world. NLCH Initiator His Royal Highness Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme said, “Humanity has great environmental challenges ahead of it. We are at a stage in history where we must find realistic and practical solutions to these. A circular economy offers us a road map for systemic change in our economic ecological and social system. Our ambition with NLCH is to share the practical experiences from businesses, cities, governments, entrepreneurs and communities to show what is possible and inspire ever greater adoption of the circular economy principles“.About Netherlands Circular Hotspot CampaignThe Netherlands Circular Hotspot is a campaign aimed at positioning the Netherlands internationally as a circular hotspot and sharing the best practices and learnings with companies and governments around the world. The campaign includes the realisation of a broad vision on the Netherlands’ circular future, a Circular Expo, exhibiting (internationally) scalable circular projects, and an incoming trade- and journalist mission. The vision will be shaped based on input from Dutch and international thought-, sector- and industry leaders and representatives of younger generations. The visionary document will be presented to European government officials at the Innovation Expo during the Dutch EU presidency in 2016.Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme and Circle Economy are the pioneers of this campaign. The initiators are the Social Economic Council (SER), Delta Development Group, Circle Economy and INSID. Netherlands Circular Hotspot is supported by more than 25 ambassador-businesses, organizations and cooperates with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and NLCirculair!.Background informationThe Netherlands as small as 41.500 km2 with almost 18 mln people living on it, the population density is remarkably high (18% vs 0,5% globally). There’s no choice but to see our small country as one big eco system in which loops need to be closed and our economy is based on a regenerative system. Infinite reuse of resources is the norm, without the expense of economic growth. The Netherlands, being highly dependent on the rest of the world for its increasingly scarce raw materials and particularly vulnerable to climate change and its parallels to rising sea level action has been taken. The innovative and entrepreneurial nature of the Dutch has lead to resolving many societal issues over the past. The position of frontrunner within the circular economy will create benefits for both the Dutch economy as well as the society as a whole. In order to transform to a circular economy the creation of a ‘living lab’ has taken big steps in finding innovative solutions and answers to become an ecosystem of its own. Being a global circular hotspot sharing innovation and collaborating with the rest of the world is necessary to become a global circular economy in order to combat climate change.Prof. Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende, Partner Corporate Responsibility at EY, Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands “The Circular Economy is key to quality of life, a sustainable world and huge economic opportunities. It should be part of the DNA of every government, company and organization. As a circular hotspot the Netherlands is proud to play a servant role to other urban delta's around the globe, in being a first national living lab for the circular economy”.Frans van Houten, CEO Royal Philips “At Philips, we embrace circular economy-thinking, because of the intrinsic benefits for societies and because it drives economic growth. We have made significant steps in redesigning our product propositions and business models. Among other innovations, we are pioneering asset tracking to close the loop on re-use of parts and we have designed consumer products from recycled plastics. We also have been selling refurbished medical equipment for a long time. We have significant R&D activities in the Netherlands, an ideal testing ground to jump start breakthrough innovations. That is also why we support Netherlands Circular Hotspot. Together with its initiator Circle Economy, we are committed to make the circular economy happen.”To get inspired go to our social platform to find circular best practices from different industries and governments www.netherlandscircularhotspot.nl. Join us on Facebook.com/NLcircularhotspot and Twitter.com/CircularHotspot Tweet #NLCircularHotspotNetherlands Circular Hotspot | Sharing innovationBest caseswww.netherlandscircularhotspot.nl
_________________________________________________________________________________________The ambassadors of the campaign are: Accenture, Akzo Nobel, Black Bear Carbon, Delta Development Group, Deltares, Desko, DSM, Floow2, FrieslandCampina, City of Amsterdam, Region Haarlemmermeer, Inashco, Interface, KPMG, Modulo, PGGM, Philips, Port of Rotterdam, Powered by Meaning, Rabobank, Rockwool, Royal Haskoning DHV, Rotterdam Partners, Schiphol, Siemens, The Executive Network, Dutch Water Authorities, Van GansewinkelNote for editors:Contact Annerieke Douma for more information or interview requests at 00316 14665068 or Email: press@circularhotspot.nl
Circle Economy is partner of the European Remanufacturing Network (ERN). Together with the other partners a European wide market study on remanufacturing is performed.ERN estimates the current size of the European remanufacturing industry to be just under €30bn, employing around 190,000 people. The market study however shows that with supportive governmental policies and industry investments, the industry could grow to €90bn by 2030 and employ as many as 255,000 people. Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse Germany, undertakes the most remanufacturing by a significant margin, making up almost a third of European remanufacturing turnover.RemanufacturingRemanufacturing is considered an important component of a resource-efficient manufacturing industry and a key strategy within the circular economy: by keeping components and their embodied material in use for longer, significant energy use and emissions to air and water can be avoided. Despite these benefits, remanufacturing currently is an undervalued part of the industrial landscape and an under-recognised sustainable industry. Without coordinated support, European remanufacturing could lose competitiveness against major competitors, like the USA and China, who already have a common vision and strategy for remanufacturing. ERN’s market study is a first step in mapping the potential of remanufacturing in Europe.ERN will add value for (aspiring) remanufacturers by mapping the challenges of remanufacturing business models, product design and processes.Competitive advantage“The top motives for businesses to remanufacture are higher profit margins, environmental responsibility, a strategic advantage and increased market share. These all point to an encouraging view of the future of the remanufacturing industry from those within the business”, says Seigo Robinson – Senior Consultant at Oakdene Hollins. Other motives include a secure spare parts supply, potential to lower product prices, opportunities through alternative business models, reduced resource security risk, customer pressure, asset and brand protection, and reduced lead times. The study further identified customer recognition, availability of ‘cores’ (used parts to be remanufactured into new products), quality of cores and high labour costs to be key barriers to remanufacturing.The full market study can be downloaded here.In 2016, the partners will create online tooling and organize workshops. In these workshops, ERN representatives will present and discuss tools and methods for how to overcome key remanufacturing challenges
What a year it’s been. We have seen some impactful events happen across the world. From natural disasters caused by climate change, to significant initiatives to alter the current linear direction. We have also witnessed an increased interest in circular economy as a possible solution for the world’s biggest problems and we are happy to work with both our members and others to make the circular economy happen. At Circle Economy we have also gone through quite a few changes. Since I’ve joined the organisation in April we have focused the organisation around practical implementation of circular economy and scalability of the programs and tools we develop. We’ve been working really hard to set up and redesign programs and tools so they are ready to hit the market in 2016 and facilitate and accelerate the transition. One of our main focus point is the cities program; as cities are the main polluters as well as the political and financial powerhouses of many nations. We are also focusing on the digitization of our tools. All tools are designed to facilitate practical circular action and decision making of businesses and governments in different sectors and with different approaches. Probably one of the most important events of 2015 was the Climate Conference in Paris (COP21) during which 195 signed the agreement to keep global warming under 2 degrees and aim for 1.5. Circle Economy welcomes the agreement and at the same time calls for concrete steps and action. We must now urgently accelerate the practical actions to achieve this goal. It is promising to see so many concrete steps already being taken, and so many opportunities for circularity in the pipeline. For example high quality fiber sort technique is being developed as we speak, that will close the loop for textiles, a dashboard for cities is being developed where cities can see their own circular performance and compare this with other cities around the globe, therefore stirring a positive competition. We are looking forward to an important year, a year of taking concrete steps to meet the COP21 goals.Wishing you all the best for 2016,Andy RidleyCEO Circle Economy[read Andy's full blog on COP21 here]
The circular economy is quickly permeating throughout our global economies. Beyond end-of-life solutions, the sharing economy is demonstrating the power of tapping into wasted resources to create value, and new 'product-as-a-service' business models are demonstrating the power of new consumer demands from automobiles to washing machines.
Front-running companies are already pursuing circular strategies and successfully developing new, circular markets. This includes startups such as ACTronics, which remanufactures automotive electronic equipment, Black Bear Carbon, which harvests carbon black from old tyres, and CRS Holland, which recovers and recycles marine cables. Multinationals, such as Philips and DSM, are also demonstrating that a pivot to circularity is not only possible, but offers a real competitive edge. It is becoming more and more apparent that in order to remain competitive in the global market and create a future-proof business, circular economy business strategies must be adopted. If you’re interested in starting your business’ journey to circularity or need help in identifying the next steps you can take in creating a more circular business start by addressing the 5 questions below.
Envision your company within the circular economy. Where are your strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats? Evaluate your business’ various divisions and portfolios to understand how circular they already are and identify improvement areas. Is there more that you can do other than simply manage your waste or the amount of renewable energy that you consume?
Engaging and collaborating with a trusted and enthusiastic network of partners, external stakeholders and employees is key to the successful implementation of circular strategies. Energise your staff to gain alignment toward a common purpose and define how each of these groups can play a role in the implementation process.
Map your business' activities, processes and position in your value chain. Where do your resources come from? How and where is value being created or destroyed across your business? How much waste are you producing? Identify promising areas throughout your chain that provide areas for improvement and opportunities for innovation.
Analyse the financial returns of different circular scenarios and understand how they compare to business-as-usual. How can you innovate with new business models? What opportunities do these present to future-proof and improve your resilience to change? What are the risks and tradeoffs of such strategies? Rank them by the amount of value they create and decide on a pathway forward.
Create an action plan that guides you towards the implementation of practical, on-the-ground circular strategies. Communicate your learnings throughout the piloting process to both your internal and external stakeholders to give them a clear understanding of the progress that is being made and the expected plans for scaling up the pilots in the future.
Still not sure how to address the questions above?
Circle Economy’s consulting services can help.
Founded in 2012 to promote the practical and scalable implementation of the circular economy, we have witnessed growing interest in the topic and its tremendous potential to create sustainable value. However, our experience has shown us that many businesses are unsure of where to start when adopting circular strategies.
We have worked with a wide range of businesses, cities and organisations to find and implement actionable solutions. Along this journey we have established dedicated programmes for textiles, cities and finance, pioneered work in many sectors such as mobility, agrifood and construction and worked on game-changing topics including climate change and employment. Thanks to our work with front-running companies we have also gained an understanding of best-practices and developed high-impact tools and services.
The knowledge and expertise we have acquired from our extensive partner network and tried and tested project processes allows us to take a flexible and modular approach to our consulting projects. Our tools and services can be combined in a multitude of ways to meet your specific needs.
Check out our tailor-made consulting solutions to ignite your journey to circularity!
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