Based on a survey of 2950 business leaders across the globe, this new article investigates the state of circularity in large corporations. The study found that across business functions (Operations, Supply chain, and Products & Services) companies are on a circular economy pathway, but they are definitely not there yet. The study was conducted by Circular X' Nancy Bocken, together with Jaan-Pauli Kimpimäki, Paavo Ritala & Jan Konietzko. An analysis was done of circular economy implementation of the following resource saving strategies:
- Narrow the loop: do more with less
- Slow the loop: use products and components longer
- Close the loop: recycle materials
- Regenerate resources & loops: improve the natural environment
Some of the key takeaways are:
- The close the loop strategy, associated with recycling, is the most implemented strategy overall
- This is followed by narrowing the loop and slowing the loop
- Regeneration is the newest strategy and least implemented so far
- In companies’ own operations, narrow the loop is most implemented
- This strategy also started earliest in supply chain functions
- In the products & services function, close the loop dominates
The full open access study can be read here.
