While the world’s circularity sits at 8.6%, the Canadian province of Quebec trails behind—cycling just 3.5% of the materials it consumes. This is according to our new Circularity Gap Report Quebec, which deep dives into the intricacies of the province’s economy—pinpointing opportunities to jump start its own circular journey. The report presents circular strategies across six key sectors, and highlights how Quebec's circularity can climb from 3.5% to 9.8%, further outlining the co-benefits this transformational shift could bring. This first regional Circularity Gap Report shines a light on the power of provinces, positioning Quebec as a key agent for change and promising incubator for circularity.
Quebec boasts several assets—its electricity use is fuelled almost entirely by renewable sources, it's home to one of the most expansive forest reservoirs in the world with huge carbon-sequestration potential, and has high government spending power and a skilled workforce. Yet, the province's economy is still largely linear: it guzzles resources and consumes an average of 271 million tonnes per year—amounting to 32 tonnes per person; topping the average Canadian and far beyond the average European. The large material footprint also represents a sizable opportunity: if implemented, the impact of the proposed circular strategies is substantial, and would bring the province's consumption well below the European average.
Circle Economy, with partner Recyc-Québec, has uncovered six 'what-if' scenarios that have the power to transform the Quebecois economy. Based on a foundational analysis of how resources are used to meet various societal needs—from Housing and Mobility to Food and Consumer Goods—the report provides various interventions to narrow the province's Circularity Gap.
Which societal needs consume the most? Unsurprisingly, resource-intensive Housing, Manufactured Goods and Agriculture fill the first three slots. The interventions suggested for Housing have the power to boost circularity by one percentage point and shave a whopping 11% off the material footprint, bringing it to 241.2 million tonnes. These include:
Similarly, the interventions suggested for taking a more conscious approach to Manufactured Goods could see circularity rise from 3.5% to 4.2%, and strip back the material footprint by 4.4%. These include:
The interventions suggested for Agriculture bring the greatest potential for material savings, reducing the footprint by 12.3% while bumping circularity up 0.5 percentage points. These include:
Other scenarios explored include circular public procurement, resource-efficient manufacturing and a transition to clean mobility, which boost the Circularity Metric by 0.5, 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively.
The report highlights the potential to jumpstart Quebec's circular transition—and help it meet the goals of its 2030 Plan for a Green Economy. A full-steam-ahead approach to circularity in Quebec carries great promise: by increasing circularity by just six percentage points, the province’s economy will see transformational change and slash its material footprint in half. That's not all—circular strategies reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the report’s proposed measures bring a host of other co-benefits, like increased biodiversity, reduced plastic pollution and stronger communities amongst others.
And the time is now: as provinces across Canada begin to return to business-as-usual after more than a year of restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Quebecois government has a crucial opportunity to position itself as a leader in 'building back better'—championing an approach that boosts resilience and puts environmental, social and economic concerns at the fore. This approach is the circular economy.
Businesses must measure and report on non-financial information to estimate future risks and optimise performance, as well help companies stay competitive while improving their environmental and social impact. This is according to a new Circle Economy Coalition Circular Accounting (CCA) white paper—published with the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants and Invest-NL—which suggests a way to measure circular impact data and identifies next steps for businesses, financiers and accountants.
This is especially important as an increasing number of businesses are reshaping the linear ‘take-make-waste’ economy into a circular economy—sustainability is big business. If digital was the trend of the 2010s, sustainability and the circular economy are the focus of the 2020s—driven by consumer and investor demand, as reported by Forbes. Eyes are on the business world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste, as well as prioritise employee wellbeing—among other environmental and social indicators.
Today, financial statements are the primary sources of information on a business’s current and future performance. They are also the primary base upon which management and investor decisions are made. But here lies the problem—current statements have a very narrow focus. They do not fully reflect the short- and long-term constraints and impacts of non-financial aspects, such as resource depletion, social inequalities or climate change.
The CCA’s new white paper, How to find the value of circular impact in business, says positive and negative social and environmental impacts need to be integrated into financial reporting and, ultimately, governance and financial decision making processes.
‘A company’s value will be increasingly tied to its environmental and social impact—so it must become a matter of routine to integrate impact information in all strategic decision making processes.’ says Aglaia Fischer, project manager of Circular Finance at Circle Economy.
Profit has long been the language of business. But now, businesses and investors should consider reporting on circular and non-financial impact in financial statements to enable more substantiated decision making and unveil a company’s long-term opportunities and risks.
Circular impact means implementing circularity in business activities. This essentially entails incorporating externalities (i.e. impact) in the business and revenue model. Circular companies may have a lower financial performance compared to linear ones, due to the costs incurred for activities that have a positive economic, environmental or social impact, but it's likely they have a far higher sustainability performance. Therefore, in striving for a fair assessment of a company’s performance, it is key to create a level playing field and rate all companies the same way. This requires different information and different assessment frameworks, that do consider factors such as employee wellbeing, pollution and scarce materials use. Circular impact data measures this, giving businesses an incentive to change their behaviour for the better, and investors a chance to prioritise companies that do this.
We already know one thing: what gets measured, gets managed. And this white paper confirms that. To provide a clear account of the potential of circular impact and a possible methodology, the CCA worked with knowledge partner Impact Institute on an impact case involving Meerlanden, a Dutch material and energy recovery company. They measured how waste is collected and processed into new resources in the company using the Integrated Profit and Loss (IP&L) method. This method measures impact against six capitals: financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and natural.
The analysis uncovers that circular organic waste recycling has a far lower negative environmental impact than non-circular residual waste incineration. This impact case proves that environmental and social impacts considerably affect a business’s operations and prospects for the future, and that the method of IP&L can be scaled across different business processes in a variety of sectors.
The authors spotlight three next steps:
We are thrilled to announce that Circle Economy has joined the Pact for Skills, a shared engagement model for skills development in Europe launched by the European Commission.
By signing the Pact for Skills, Circle Economy commits to action on upskilling both our own people and through our work raising awareness of the skills people working in the circular economy need in Europe and beyond.
The circular transition hinges on workers and their skills. Upskilling and reskilling are urgently needed if we are to harness the full potential of the circular economy and ensure that no workers are left behind in the transition. Read this blog by Esther Goodwin Brown (Circular Jobs Initiative Lead at Circle Economy) from December 2020 to learn more.
Our latest report on skills explains the role of vocational and educational training (VET) in ensuring a skilled workforce can thrive in and scale up the circular economy. It provides recommendations for governments, educators, industry and civil society, illustrating how VET can help us build circular capacities, leverage existing skill sets and diversify.
Circle Economy's latest position paper lays out how VET is a key mechanism to ensure a skilled workforce can thrive in and scale up the circular economy, providing key recommendations for governments, educators, industry and civil society.
We are in a time of transition. In an orchestrated effort to protect livelihoods, reduce resource scarcity and tackle climate change, businesses and civil societies around the world are shifting towards greener, more circular ways of working and living. More and more governments are bringing circular economy policies and green recovery plans into play.
But do workers have the skills necessary to both scale-up and participate in the economy that is taking shape? Are we being educated in a way that enables us to harness the full potential of the circular economy? Currently, the answer is no. There is a gap between the skills workers have today and skills they will need in the future—and it is widening, as we embrace circular business models and strategies, digitalisation and greening economies, and as populations live (and work) for longer. But if embraced, these new trends can have a positive impact on the labour market: and all require a enhanced focus on education that equips workers with the right skills and emphasises personal development.
In our latest position paper, Circle Economy's Circular Jobs Initiative (CJI) explores how this skills gap can be narrowed, finding that vocational education and training (VET) is crucial. Without proper vocational up- and re-skilling, we risk not only leaving workers behind but also hampering the transition to a circular economy. And in pursuing a shift where skills overtake job titles as the metric of the labour market and labour mobility and resilience are prioritised, strengthening workers' transversal skills is paramount, the report finds.
This shines a light on VET as a key mechanism to ensure a skilled workforce that can thrive in and scale up the circular economy. The report provides recommendations for governments, educators, industry and civil society, illustrating how VET can help us build circular capacities, leverage existing skill sets and diversify. While the advice given differs per group, some common threads were uncovered—namely, the importance of collaboration between all entities to both generate new skills needs and co-create training programmes, as well as an emphasis on lifelong learning and development. The crucial role of governments as potential VET advocates, funding providers and policy coordinators is also highlighted.
The report vividly illustrates how VET can accelerate the circular transition through the use of case studies, highlighting examples in disparate sectors from construction to agri-food to education. The interdisciplinarity of skills the circular economy calls for is emphasised: a circular construction project, for example, may require more multi-skilled, adaptive operatives than a traditional tradesperson has, representing a gap in the skills needed to push the circular transition forward. This is already being addressed in practice—for example, through the TIP Circulair programme of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Leading engineers and professionals mentor young construction apprentices, discussing successes and challenges and jointly improving their circular knowledge—the success of which has reiterated the importance of collaboration, co-creation and action-based learning.
A similar case has been uncovered in India, where the Department of Agriculture at the Pandit Sundarlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education has launched several agriculture and food processing courses, also teaching communication, self-management and basic digital skills, with the ultimate aim of increasing India’s role in the global food trade while championing sustainable approaches.
And of course, VET remains highly applicable in the education sector, which is rife with potential to support workers through the green economy transition—making the most of opportunities to facilitate lifelong learning, provide high-quality careers guidance, accommodate the need for interdisciplinary training, and support a systems-level revising of VET. The paper urges the education sector to recognise both its responsibility and its opportunity in moulding a new generation of workers with the knowledge and skills to spark a new economic model—one that is founded on circular principles.
Topics related to the circular economy are increasingly emerging in higher education in tandem with its burgeoning popularity—yet the role of VET has, until now, been underappreciated, despite being backed by the Sustainable Development Goals and the International Labour Organization's decent work agenda. The time to change this is now. McKinsey predicts that in the EU alone, up to 18 million workers will need reskilling as we shift towards a low-carbon, circular economy. Only if we manage such large-scale shifts in labour markets with foresight and care, can we achieve the innovation and employment potential of the circular economy.
Circle Economy is actively strengthening evidence on the shift in and demand for jobs and skills in a circular economy. Our Circular Jobs Initiative defines and identifies circular jobs, analyses the environment needed to create them and maximise their societal benefits. We work with employers, workers, governments, multilateral organisations, education institutions and research organisations.
This report captures the circular vision of the region and its industrial network. It identifies the economic sectors with the highest potential for implementing circular strategies, honing in on the 16 most impactful strategies. This document is the result of collaboration between different agents and entities, led by the Association Àmbit B30, and with the input of Fundació Fòrum Ambiental, inèdit and Circle Economy.
As a frontrunner in the circular economy, the study sets the B30 region next to other European cities and regions that have taken part in a Circle City Scan—such as Bilbao, Amsterdam or Prague. Representing the circular vision for the B30 region, it presents a visual roadmap that identifies the opportunities and starting points for fostering the transition to a circular economy. The document prioritises the economic sectors with the greatest potential for circularity and proposes 16 circular strategies in these areas—the greatest potential emerging in the agri-food, packaging, metal and chemical sectors. As the Spanish government looks to invest in the circular economy—designating close to €4 billion to circular initiatives leading up to 2023—the outcomes of this Scan provide crucial insights for other regions and nations across Europe kick starting their own circular journeys. With €70 billion in EU recovery funds to be spent across Europe, governments can look towards the experiences of the B30 region to catalyse their own structural transitions in industrial territories.
The president of the Association Àmbit B30, Josep Monràs, has emphasized that 'one of our main objectives is to decisively support the circular economy as a means for change and economic and social progress, and must especially play a role in post-pandemic recovery'. In this sense, he has added that 'the transversal work and synergies catalysed by the Xarxa d’Acció Circular de l’Àmbit B30 will be key in enhancing the economic reactivation of the industrial network'.
Despite the outstanding challenges, the B30 region carries great potential for the promotion of circular economy strategies, due to its business and industrial congregation, as well as the innovative capacity of nearby research centres and universities. It groups 23 municipalities that together hold a significant concentration of high-tech industrial activities, and host a large number of first-level educational, research and technology centres. It is the first industrial conglomerate in Spain, accounting for 17% of Catalan GDP, and 23% of Catalan industrial GDP.
The diagnosis of the territory's political, economic, environmental and social reality, as well as the overarching strategy for the development of the region, have allowed us to pinpoint the four sectors with the highest potential for circularity: agri-food, packaging, metal and chemicals. Combined, they provide more than 58.000 (14% of the region’s jobs) jobs and add €5 billion (17%) to the local economy, while also ranking top in terms of circularity potential.
Qualitative data from expert interviews has been used to delve into each of these sectors, searching for the areas where there may be more opportunities to catalyse the circular economy, retain value and create impact. A sectorial MFA (Material Flow Analysis)—a diagram displaying resource inflows and waste outflows—complemented this field research, strengthening the identification of potential strategies and prioritising the flows with the strongest economic and environmental impact.
Finally, a wide-ranging exploration of circular opportunities—based on international examples and experiences and complemented with a multisectoral workshop—has allowed us to identify new needs and challenges and connect key actors. This analysis pinpointed the 16 priority circular strategies for the four economic sectors relevant to the B30 region.
With quantitative and qualitative information, synergies between the key sectors were identified, focusing, and framing the different challenges and opportunities, both sector-specific and cross sectoral. The dispersion of products makes it necessary to improve the traceability, recovery and refining of metals, in order to reintroduce them into the economy. Several opportunities were identified for improvement in the efficiency of processes in the chemical sector. Another set of strategies revolves around preserving the value of food resources to avoid waste, biorefineries and revalued food products. This is closely connected to new solutions for packaging, bioplastics and new materials for the agri-food sector. The study also reveals the potential contribution of the region's chemistry industry to the circularity of the economy. Finally, several opportunities were identified for new business models and solutions as product-service systems.
This publication is the result of the work carried out by the circular economy working group of Àmbit B30, an entity whose mission is to consolidate and promote the growth of the B-30 region as a main economic and industrial driver both within the country and throughout Southern Europe.
The technical lead of the project was Fundació Fòrum Ambiental, an organisation that has worked in sustainability and taken part in public-private collaboration for over 20 years, with the support of the strategic eco-innovation study inèdit, an expert in driving circular territory projects and accompanying companies in their circular transition. Circle Economy—a Dutch non-profit impact organisation pioneering projects on the transition towards the circular economy that has worked with over 20 cities in different geographies—has also participated in the project. The participation of various associations, local bodies and companies in interviews, group meetings and workshops has also been essential in providing knowledge about the region and setting proposals.
Work towards the region's circular vision for 2020–2021 will be based on the roadmap and lessons presented by the publication, under the brand XACB30 (Xarxa d’Acció Circular a l’Àmbit B30: Circular Action Network at the B30 region). The aim is to strengthen partnerships between the agents of change that are already working on boosting the circular economy within the B30 region. These actors are currently offering training, qualifications, and external support, scaling up experiences and creating a space that brings together news and resources on the circular economy within the area.
VIENNA, 28 April 2021 - A partnership led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has issued a call for expressions of interest for pilot projects aiming to accelerate the circular economy in two critical value chains in developing countries, namely textiles and garments, and plastic packaging. Submissions from European Union-headquartered multinational corporations (MNCs) working with suppliers in developing countries to implement circular practices are welcomed.
Apparel brands of all sizes interested in circular business models that extend the practical lifetime of clothes can now use Circle Economy’s ‘Circular Toolbox’ to get a rental or resale pilot off the ground in under a year.
Circular business models, such as resale and rental, offer commercial opportunities for brands to innovate their business model while expanding the practical service life of clothing—allowing brands to do more with less. When intelligently designed, they can also reduce the total environmental impact of the industry.
‘The fashion industry’s sustainability efforts thus far have been dominated by a focus on sustainable materials. While this is a very important driver for impact reduction, with a growing population that is consuming at hyperspeed, it’s becoming blatantly clear that a shift toward using sustainable materials alone is not going to cut it. Increasing the utilisation of our garments is considered one of the most effective ways to reduce the overall impact of the clothing industry. Resale, rental and subscription models promise to do just this: optimise the lifetime and active use of garments and provide pathways to decouple growth from resource use.’ — Hélene Smits, Circle Textiles Programme Associate at Circle Economy
By providing brands with the tools they need and a clear process and timeline to follow, the Circular Toolbox—and the circular innovation process it supports—aims to make it as easy as possible for apparel brands to adopt circular business models.
‘Numerous guides to circular business models exist, but few provide the level of detail needed for apparel brands to practically move from A to Z, and design and launch a model in the market.. Numerous consultancies also exist that can provide more tailored support to brands looking to explore circularity, but for most SMEs, this is not a realistic option. With the Circular Toolbox, we aim to remove those barriers for as many brands as possible and offer them a one-stop-shop to to independently drive circular business model innovation within their company.’ — Gwen Cunningham, Circle Textiles Programme Lead at Circle Economy
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The online toolbox guides users through a five-step circular innovation process, from getting sign-off from the top and putting a team together all the way to piloting a new concept on the ground. Resources include design thinking and research tools, workshop sheets and facilitator’s guides, a podcast featuring brands that have undergone the same process and, crucially, specific guidance as to how and when to use each tool.
The circular innovation process outlined in the toolbox was tried and tested through the Switching Gear project, which guided four brands—Asket, Lindex, ETP and Kuyichi—in the development and launch of circular business model pilots.
Exploring circular business models is part of Lindex’ transformation as a company and part of us reaching our sustainability goals. With the project, we got support not only in the development of a new model, but also in anchoring and building knowledge across our organisation. The methodologies and the tools that we used throughout are something that we will use in any new circular business model that we intend to explore going forward—this is also why I can highly recommend using the Circular Toolbox to anyone interested in exploring rental or resale business models.
— Annette Tentsam, Strategy Lead Circularity & Environmental Sustainability
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Apparel brands interested in using the Toolbox can do so at www.thecirculartoolbox.eventbrite.com.
For interview requests, please reach out to Circle Economy through their website.
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Towards an inclusive, fair and sustainable industry
The past two decades have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of times clothes are worn. Coupled with a shift towards fast fashion, average consumers today buy 60% more items than they did 15 years ago and wear them for half as long. 70% of closets usually go unworn and it is estimated that 33% of women wear items as little as 5 times before disposing of them.
The Switching Gear project, supported by the Laudes Foundation, is part of the Bridging the Gap initiative, a group of six organisations working to stimulate sector-wide collaboration, facilitate innovative technologies and the design of best practices to enable the implementation of circular business models in the fashion industry’s supply chain. Other strategic partners of the Bridging the Gap group include the World Resources Institute, WRAP, London Waste and Recycling Board, QSA Partners and Forum for the Future.
About Circle Economy
Circle Economy is an impact organisation founded to achieve prosperity for all within planetary boundaries. With nature as their mentor, they help businesses, cities and governments identify opportunities to transition to a circular economy and provide a powerful combination of practical and scalable solutions to turn these opportunities into reality.
About Switching Gear
‘Switching Gear: Towards Circular Business Models’ was a Laudes Foundation-supported project, led by Circle Economy, that guided four apparel brands on a circular innovation process towards the design and launch of rental and resale business model pilots by 2021.
The project ran from 2018 to 2021. The Circular Toolbox brings together tools and insights from the project into a practical guide for other apparel brands looking to explore circular business models.
About the Switching Gear Enabling Network
To support the practical implementation of these pilots and enable the wider uptake of circular business models in the apparel Industry, Circle Economy also joined forces with strategic partner Fashion For Good to drive the formation of a global Enabling Network of over 50 circular solution providers and innovators, frontrunning brands and relevant experts, which will continue running past project end, until December 2021. Should you be interested to join the Enabling Network, please get in touch through the Circle Economy website: www.circle-economy.com/programmes/textiles/switching-gear/join-us
Edit history
Apr 6, 2021: This article was edited to link readers to the recording of the launch event instead of the event's registration page as well as to the actual toolbox.
Are you an apparel brand looking to explore rental or resale business models? A consultant supporting brands with circularity? Or just generally interested in the topic of circular business models?
Sign up to join our upcoming event, this April 1st, at 4pm CET, and learn more about the story of the four brands that have embarked on a journey to design and launch their own circular business model pilot through our Circle Textiles Programme’s Switching Gear project.
We will also share more information about how you, too, can follow along a similar circular innovation process for your brand through the Circular Toolbox, launching the same day.
Can't make the event? You can sign up up to a week after the event date in order to receive the recording and more information about the toolbox.
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