2050: Looking Back at a Non-Circular World

What will the circular economy look like once it has been implemented? Looking forward to 2050, how will the future world compare to today's? I imagine it may look something like the following. Once, our waste used to go to landfills, whereas in 2050 it is a resource for industry. Our food used to be produced at farms that didn’t use manure to produce energy, and our land was farmed inefficiently. Back in the day, our cars used fossil fuels, and we were not yet using carbon-neutral gas produced from solar and wind energy. That power-to-gas gets us from point A to point B in 2050 is exciting! Our clothes are now printed digitally and locally, on demand! Much better than in 2018, when many clothes were left unsold, leading to the waste and unsold apparel. Now the fashion industry has embraced the circular economy in its global fashion agenda.

But let’s jump back to present day 2018 for a second, where we are still taking steps toward the circular economy. Many companies are optimizing their supply chains from the cost and sustainability perspective, designing for material and energy efficiency and transforming business models—all contributing to a circular economy. There are examples of increasingly circular products, including HP Inc. with its circular strategy for products including printers, PCs, mobile devices, and services. HP offers robust product recycling systems, designs for upgradeability and reparability, and uses recycled content in new products. Another example comes from DSM, a global chemicals company. Its circular strategy includes the following steps:

1. Reduce the use of critical resources
2. Replace scarce, hazardous, and potentially harmful resources
3. Extend the lifetime of products
4. Enable recycling with smart and safe materials
5. Recover waste streams

These approaches apply a business logic that describes practical and scalable opportunities, made possible by moving toward an economy that is regenerative and as waste free as possible. According to the World Economic Forum, the circular economy could save $700 billion per year globally in material costs alone.

What Can Circularity Mean for You?

At Guidehouse, we invest in cutting edge and practical solutions regarding the circular economy. We work with policymakers to design and implement policies and apply a stepped approach with corporate clients to invent and incrementally create circular products. A recent report from Ecofys, a Guidehouse company, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development offers insight into the biggest circular economy opportunities for specific value chains.

Guidehouse works with companies, governments, non-governmental organizations, cities, and other organizations on circularity strategy, policy, and implementation. If you are interested in discovering what circularity can mean for your organization and how Guidehouse can assist, please email Vincent Hoen.