Tips for Transitioning to a Circular Economy

Recycling is only 10% of the circular economy equation. Here’s where 90% of businesses are missing out: 1. Design for Disassembly Stop designing products just to last, design them to come apart easily. Experts build things that can be disassembled, repaired, and reused. That’s how you keep materials in the game for the long haul. 2. Material Passports Imagine if every product had a “passport” tracking what it’s made of. Experts use Material Passports to know exactly how to reuse each component. This hidden gem saves time, resources, and keeps everything in circulation. 3. Product-as-a-Service Why sell a product when you can lease it? Forward-thinkers aren’t just selling products—they’re renting them out, keeping control of maintenance and recycling. Customers get what they need, and companies keep the materials. Win-win. 4. Regenerative Sourcing Circularity isn’t just about not harming the planet. It’s about making it better. Experts use regenerative sourcing, like farming methods that actually improve soil health. It’s about giving back more than you take. 5. Industrial Symbiosis In the circular economy, companies don’t work in isolation. They collaborate. One company’s waste is another’s input. Think a brewery’s waste turning into biofuel for a neighboring factory. It’s next-level efficiency. 6. Closed-Loop Supply Chains Forget the old-school supply chain. Experts create closed loops where products, parts, and materials are cycled back into production. This means zero waste, but it also means rethinking how you handle logistics. 7. Removing Toxic Materials You can’t have a true circular economy if the materials you recycle are harmful. Experts are focusing on eliminating toxic substances from their supply chains. It’s not just about recycling, it’s about making sure what gets reused is safe. 8. Local Manufacturing Circular pros aren’t thinking global, they’re thinking local. By building products closer to where they’ll be used, companies cut emissions and create regional production loops. It’s sustainability at the local level. 9. Blockchain for Transparency Circularity is about trust, and trust comes from transparency. Experts are using blockchain to track every stage of a product’s life, from raw material to recycling. Total transparency = total accountability. 10. Biofabrication The future isn’t just about reusing materials, it’s about growing them. Experts are diving into biofabrication, growing materials like fungi-based leather or algae-based plastics. It’s cutting-edge and completely circular. The circular economy is about thinking differently. It’s about building systems where everything has a second life. Are you ready to go beyond the basics?

How Can Businesses Transition From A Linear To "A C I R C U L A R" Model by Embracing Recapture and Redeploy Strategies? Imagine you are a car manufacturer. You recognize that many parts of your cars can be easily reconditioned to serve in other vehicles. You set up a #Remanufacturing facility and offer to buy back old cars. By breaking them down, you extract the reusable parts and sell them again, while also recycling metals that can't be reused. This process is known as #Remanufacturing. Unlike recycling, #Remanufacturing involves intentionally designing parts to be taken out and put back through the same production cycle or into similar goods. For instance, car parts from old vehicles can be refurbished and used in new cars, or repurposed into entirely new products. The apparel industry also benefits from this model. Some clothing companies take back jeans to convert them into jean shorts, offering a fresh product from old materials. The difference between a linear and a circular company lies in designing and planning for the end of a product's life right from the start, ensuring #ResourceEfficiency and longevity. Think about the added value this brings to you as a consumer. By buying from companies that practice recapture and redeploy strategies, you contribute to a sustainable future. How can your business embrace recapture and redeploy strategies to make a positive impact on the environment? #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #Remanufacturing #EcoFriendly #GreenBusiness #ResourceEfficiency #WasteReduction #InnovativeDesign

Kohler Co., the 150-year-old bathroom and kitchen fixtures company, and Legrand, a 160-year-old maker of electrical supplies, are overhauling new product design processes to incorporate principles such as longer durability, simpler repair and disassembly, and more recycled content. This takes cross-company collaboration and discipline at the earliest stages of research and development, said sustainability professionals for both companies who spoke recently at #Circularity25, a Trellis Group conference. “The opportunity to influence product attributes happens super early on, and oftentimes it might be before engineers are actually involved,” said Jaden B., senior sustainability analyst at Legrand. Both Legrand and Kohler have had formal programs for reducing emissions from manufacturing and use of their products for some time. In recent months, they have revised those initiatives to include considerations that extend the useful length of time products can be used. Here are four best practices their guidelines have in common: 1. Consider features early in the design process: If suggestions are made too late in development, they’re likely to be rejected and that can be frustrating. 2. Synchronize goals and processes with industry standards: Both companies look to established methodologies from organizations such as the U.S. Green Buildings Council and the International Organization for Standardization, which in March updated foundational guidance for circular product design. 3. Check progress at each design phase: Kohler uses a scorecard to track how proposed designs meet criteria related to circularity and emissions reductions at several stages during the development process. Legrand uses a similar points-based system to gauge success. 4. Take cues from customers: Legrand trains customer-facing employees to probe for information during encounters, and that data is passed along to designers where it can be married with goals. You can read more details here: https://lnkd.in/ewGPCWR8 Ashley Fahey