Circular businesses

Circular companies show how circular business models work in practice. There are many examples of this among start-ups, but also SMEs, multinationals and semi-public organisations give examples of circular entrepreneurship. Below is a selection of companies with iconic circular products or projects.

1. Start-ups

Closing the Loop

With the ‘One for One’ program, Closing the Loop offers companies the opportunity to compensate for the raw material consumption of new mobile phones upon purchase. This is done by linking the purchase to the collection and responsible recycling of an old telephone. Similar to CO₂ compensation, but for scarce metals.

The same approach is used to give discarded mobile phones a circular second life. By linking every used phone – which is sold on the second-hand market in Africa – to the collection of a waste phone, they ensure that reuse does not lead to more ‘e-waste’. In this way, a collection structure is set up that was often not yet in place and income is created for the local population (Netherlands Circular, 2018).

Smartcrusher

Concrete is strong enough to last for centuries. But every kilogram of cement produces one kilogram of CO₂ emissions. This means that today’s concrete and cement industry emits about three times as much CO₂ as all aircraft combined. Crushed pieces of concrete can now only be used as low-grade gravel replacements.

SmartCrusher is a device that separates the unused cement stone from the concrete rubble. It also produces residual flows of good quality sand and gravel. The cement stone can be used directly in concrete production and thus saves cement and CO₂ emissions. With SmartCrusher, 50% of the world’s largest concrete construction flow can be made circular. The revenue model shows that the investment can be recouped within 1.5 years and that the price of concrete is halved. And that without including CO₂ pricing (Netherlands Circular, 2018).

Whole Surplus (Fazla Gıda)

Whole Surplus, was founded in 2015, with the idea of ​​finding solutions through a technology-based initiative to the Climate Action. Carbon emissions from food waste constitute 8% of the overall all emissions causing climate change. Whole Surplus was established with the aim of creating technology-based solutions to reduce food waste in the food supply chain by 50% until 2030. From the first day, they started to create food waste awareness in the private sector, and aimed to set an example for the formation of new start ups.

Whole Surplus is an effective waste management platform for businesses. It creates economic and social value from surplus food by managing the unsold products (food) of the businesses in the most effective way.

Closing the Loop

With the ‘One for One’ program, Closing the Loop offers companies the opportunity to compensate for the raw material consumption of new mobile phones upon purchase. This is done by linking the purchase to the collection and responsible recycling of an old telephone. Similar to CO₂ compensation, but for scarce metals.

The same approach is used to give discarded mobile phones a circular second life. By linking every used phone – which is sold on the second-hand market in Africa – to the collection of a waste phone, they ensure that reuse does not lead to more ‘e-waste’. In this way, a collection structure is set up that was often not yet in place and income is created for the local population (Netherlands Circular, 2018).

Smartcrusher

Concrete is strong enough to last for centuries. But every kilogram of cement produces one kilogram of CO₂ emissions. This means that today’s concrete and cement industry emits about three times as much CO₂ as all aircraft combined. Crushed pieces of concrete can now only be used as low-grade gravel replacements.

SmartCrusher is a device that separates the unused cement stone from the concrete rubble. It also produces residual flows of good quality sand and gravel. The cement stone can be used directly in concrete production and thus saves cement and CO₂ emissions. With SmartCrusher, 50% of the world’s largest concrete construction flow can be made circular. The revenue model shows that the investment can be recouped within 1.5 years and that the price of concrete is halved. And that without including CO₂ pricing (Netherlands Circular, 2018).

Hagelson

It is an R&D company established with the support of TÜBİTAK in March 2016. The company is mainly working on polymer materials and new recycling systems.

Thanks to its patented new technology, Hagelson manufactures new plastic raw material from the recycling of leftover and waste carpets. Thus, eliminates the problem of disposing of the woven residual carpets that accumulate during the manufacturing, the leftover parts formed in the carpet floor covering business or the old waste carpets collected during the project phase, and converts them into raw materials and returns them back to the economy.

Recycling of a 500 square meter carpet protects 12 m² of land and 29m³ of water from becoming poluted while preventing 2.2 tons of CO₂ from being emitted. It also equals to the one month energy consumption of 7.2 households. Approximately 400 kilograms of plastic raw materials can be produced from a 500 m² waste carpet.

Arkim

Arkim Chemicals manufactures food preservatives from natural sources of calcium. It can be utilised in various different sectors ranging from packaged food, vegetable, fruit, pharmaceutical industry, to cosmetics. It prolonges the shelf life of the products through natural ingredients and has no side effects.

2. Small and medium-sized enterprice (SME)

Auping

Auping won the Circular Award Business with the development of the Revive mattress, which is fully recyclable. In the Netherlands, 1.5 million mattresses are thrown away every year. Mattresses are poorly recyclable and most of them are currently incinerated. The ‘Revive’ mattress, which was developed in collaboration with DSM-Niaga, offers the solution to this problem. It is a high-quality mattress of which all materials are suitable for reuse in a new mattress. In addition, the company also offers the mattress in a lease construction. A completely closed cycle that offers opportunities for both refurbishment and recycling, without downcycling (Auping, 2019).

Instock

Instock is the first restaurant in the Netherlands to put food waste on the map, both literally and figuratively. The creative chefs at Instock transform products that wouldn’t otherwise make it to the plate into delicious dishes.

Products that no longer have any sales value for producers and supermarkets are picked up by Instock and sorted in the Food Rescue Center. Instock supplies the rescued fruit and vegetables to catering companies. Saved potatoes are processed in Pieper Beer and unsold bread becomes Bammetjes Beer. The remaining brewers are used to make granola with a high fibre content (Netherlands Circular, 2018).

Van Werven B.V.

For years, Van Werven invested in something that did not yet exist: sorting and recycling residual plastics from building waste and environmental waste streams into a high-quality raw material. The company is able to separate plastic from plastic and can therefore accept and process all plastic waste.

By entering into partnerships with suppliers and customers, the company is assured of supply and sales. Knowledge can also be shared in order to strengthen each other. An example is the cooperation with Wavin, producer of plastic pipe systems: the company uses more than 10% recycled plastic, of which Van Werven supplies a significant proportion.

3. Multinational Companies

IKEA

IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. It is a Swedish company that operates in 50 countries with 441 stores, around 1000 suppliers and 210.000 employees.

Circular economy is considered part of the Circular and Climate Positive focus area which is one of the 3 main pillars of IKEA’s sustainability strategy. IKEA's commitments to support circular economy are as follows:

• Produce long-lasting and long-term used IKEA products,

• Produce 100% circular products by 2030,

• Ensure that all products are produced from either renewable or recycled materials by 2030,

• Establishing cooperations with stakeholders while leading the space for circularity

Philips

In recent years, Philips has established itself as a leader in the circular economy with two products: offering light as a “Circular Lighting” service and buying back used equipment by Philips Medical Systems.

Circular Lighting is Philips’ lighting management and maintenance service. This new business model for professional interior lighting was developed by Philips in collaboration with Turntoo. In this way, the lighting installation remains the property of Philips. This means that the company is maximally driven to produce products that it can reuse itself, while also stimulating innovation in lighting. Philips Medical Systems produces, among other things, MRi scanners. Philips has an active policy to retain and sell used products in the second-hand market after they have been refurbished. This not only generates revenue, but also enables Philips to monitor product quality and thus protect its fire (Philips, 2019).

Vanderlande

Vanderlande is the world market leader in airport baggage systems and sorting systems for parcel and postal services as well as a leading supplier of warehouse automation. Together with cradle-to-cradle founder Michael Braungart, Vanderlande has designed a circular conveyor belt. This Blueveyor has been designed in such a way that it can be easily and quickly disassembled and all materials can be reused to a high standard. It also consists of fewer parts so that less material is used. The company also gives the materials a passport so that they can be reused more effectively (Vanderlande, 2019).

Get to work on yourself?/ How to get there?

In “Circular Economy Handbook” four dimensions that companies need to consider in their circularity journey.

1- Operations: Identifying the value lost in operations

2- Products&Services: Rethinking the all process (design, production etc.) of a product or services to optimize

3- Culture&Organizations: Adaptation of circular economy principles in an organization (working practices, procedures etc.)

4- Ecocsystem: Collaborating and partnering for collective transformation

CEO GUIDE

CEO Guide to the Circular Economy has been developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in collaboration with Accenture. The guide offers a general framework to support business leaders to be more effective in the transition to circular economy.

The guide presents CEOs and business leaders the tools they need to implement circular economy principles and emphasizes the important role leaders play in establishing a circular mindset.

CIRCULAR BUSINESS DESIGN TRAININGS

If a company wants to apply principles of circularity in its business operations, it can follow workshops at CIRCO. CIRCO assists companies in discovering and implementing new circular business opportunities.

Circular Business Design Training: As BCSD Turkey, we provide training for companies to help them to identify their opportunities, develop circular solutions including circular business model, product service and process redesign. Our partner in this process is the Consulate General of Netherlands and CIRCO (a Netherlands based NGO).

Circular Business Track, which is based on the CIRCO methodology, powers the development of the circular economy, driven by design. Companies work together with designers on developing circular products, services and business models. They do so by sharing knowledge, experience and inspiration with their network.