CASE STUDIES IN THE FUTURE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The road to circularity will be a long one. According to the Circular Gap Report, the world is only 7,6% circular, which is less than the year before. Despite this, many companies and organizations and pushing through and pioneering circular products, business models and more. In this section, we take a look at those who are leading the pack, those who venture into a new era of doing business.

This list is not an endorsement by Science Park Borås, but rather a mood board for inspiration and ideas where we can learn from those who have started. “The wisest mind has something yet to learn” wrote George Santayana and that is the purpose of this section. The transformation to a circular society will require major change, hence the importance of examples, case studies and role models – all in various stages of development.

How To Differentiate Cases

Our current economic model puts private property as a central pillar at the core of this system. While private property is vital for many to feel a sense of ownership and will to build, improve and care for, shared ownership can in other cases be a warranted and efficient form of property in the hands of a collective. Think of shared laundry rooms, public parks, urban shared bicycle schemes. We observed a number of cases in which shared ownership tends are slowly but surely seeping into the mainstream.

In this analysis, we split cases along two axes: the product or service tends towards either private or shared ownership. Similarly, the company or organization building the circular product can tend towards system change or the individual product or service’s change. See figure 1 for the graphical representation of these variations.

We need to buy less stuff is the mantra most of us know by now. And it’s true, the first principle of circular economy is refuse - refuse to buy. But in many cases, we still don’t have a choice. Here are four different categories of different companies and practices that all have the same goal: to help us reach a circular society.

”We see hints that European consumers –at least some – are moving towards postconsumerism”

– Dr. Annette Cerulli-Harms

SYSTEM-ORIENTED COMPANIES WITH SHARED/RENTAL MODELS

These enterprises have cracked the code on leveraging shared resources or services to effect meaningful system-wide changes. By encouraging collective use and management of resources, they are successfully showcasing how shared responsibility can coexist with, and indeed drive, broadbased changes in business operations.

PRODUCT-ORIENTED COMPANIES WITH SHARED/RENTAL MODELS

These actors excel in driving changes at the product level, while promoting collective usage or rental practices. Their focus on individual products or services does not impede their commitment to shared use; instead, it drives them to create more efficient, rentable or shareable products, thereby propelling the principles of the circular economy at a granular level.

SYSTEM-ORIENTED INITIATIVES WITH PRIVATE OWNERSHIP

These organizations, while maintaining the traditional sense of ownership, are engrossed in transforming entire systems to align with the principles of circular economy. From rethinking luxury to establishing repair subsidies, they are not merely tweaking products but pioneering significant systemic shifts.

PRODUCT-ORIENTED COMPANIES WITH PRIVATE OWNERSHIP

They are the custodians of innovations that make singular products or services more sustainable and waste-free, demonstrating how traditional private ownership can harmonize with the principles of a circular economy. Despite focusing on individual products, their impact ripples through the market, pushing consumers and other companies to rethink the norms of consumption and waste.