The Circular Economy as the New Normal
This case study explores the steps that must be taken to apply circular thinking in the real world. It gives examples, shares experiences, and discusses the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach. It also describes the need for upscaling and innovation from a pragmatic and programmatic approach and shows how implementation gaps can be bridged.
Why is cooperation in the value chain needed at a multi-stakeholder level? If capitalism and industrialization are responsible for social and environmental degradation, what economic reforms are needed to create a circular economy?
How To Overcome The 'Implementation Gap'
Scaling is the necessary next step in order to make the circular economy mainstream. The last five years were characterized by creating awareness about the potential of the circular concept for businesses and government. First attempts and the many reports on the subject resulted in a better and more nuanced perspective on the circular economy. On the other hand, continuing the discussion on this topic is a rather safe strategy and the redundancy of impact reports and opportunity assessments can lead to even further procrastination by 'analysis paralysis'.
National governments and the European Union still work with a 'top down' approach and the stimuli that are created for the market are often too large and too complex for small and medium-sized enterprises. Examples are the Horizon 2020 grants and the EFSI Fund. Applying to gain access to these financial resources requires substantial investment in employees or funding experts with a reasonably big risk of not being selected. Based on the insights gained so far it is fair to say that we are dealing with a large-scale 'implementation gap'.
Figure 7: Product Life Cycle Circular Economy