Why We Need Circular Production & End-of-Life Management

The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the fragility of European businesses and their supply chains. If we want to build back better our economies, stakeholders need to collaborate and adopt principles of circularity. How? Join us to the upcoming webinar “Extending the lifetime of products” on June 25 and/or engage in our European Pact for a Sustainable Industry.

Circular economy is more than just waste management and requires closer collaboration to reach its potential. This is what emerged from our Webinar “Circular Production & End-of-Life Management” that took place on Thursday 23 April 2020. Together with key speakers from the European Commission we explored the challenges of the transition to a circular economy and drew important lessons from the experience of front-runner companies such Enel and ArcelorMittal.

Here are four key takeaways:

The Circular Economy Agenda will not stop

The current health crisis brought about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the economic slowdown will not affect the European Commission’s work to implement its Circular Economy Action Plan. COVID-19 showed the importance of diversifying our value chains and improving Europe’s strategic autonomy by increasing the value of the materials of circulating products. How? By adopting thoughtful design, lowering recycling costs and a functioning market for secondary raw materials.

Circular procurement matters

A successful circular production starts from the design of the product, but includes also circular procurement. Among its many circular economy project, Enel’s circular procurement project covers 60% of its total procurement. As a result, Enel and its suppliers are able to access a co-innovative ecosystem with the goal of meeting higher environmental standards and enhancing the competitiveness of all the actors involved.

New business models are needed to scale up circular solutions

Oftentimes, the challenges around the implementation of a circular economy are not technical, but linked to business model, such as partners involved, mutual trust, and profitability. For example, reselling secondary raw materials requires collaboration with various actors, being able to find the right client and to guarantee the quality of the materials sold while remaining competitive in the market.

There is no impact without multistakeholder collaboration

Transitioning to a circular economy has social consequences that are too often overlooked. In order to combine environmental and social aspects, collaboration is fundamental to reach impact. One good example is Responsible Steel, the industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative aimed at developing shared higher standards, taking into consideration circularity as well as social and environmental aspects.

To build back better our economies after the COVID-19 emergency, companies need to collaborate with their industry federations and policymakers on practical circular solutions. How?