Business Models for a Circular Economy

Walter Stahel has been speaking and writing about the circular economy since the late 1970s. Watch this short video to discover his vision of an economy based on the performance of goods.

Read more about FLOOW2 and their relationship to the circular economy.

Read more about the Toronto Tool Library and their relationship to the circular economy.

Read more about Philips and Turntoo and their relationship to the circular economy.

Read more about Bundles and their relationship to the circular economy.

Read more about Game Stop and their relationship to the circular economy.

Read about Mazuma Mobiles approach to business.

Why sell bikes outright to children who will only be able to use them for a short period of time before they outgrow them? It’s the question that Isla Rowntree, owner of children’s bicycle manufacturer Islabikes asked herself. The solution, it turns out, is simple, Islabikes will now rent out its products to customers, who will have the opportunity to return the bicycles to the factory for refurbishment.

The problem in the fashion industry isn’t fashion itself: it’s the harmful impact of creating that fashion and the waste generated when that fashion is landfilled instead of circulated indefinitely.

With startup success stories, acres of media coverage and stacks of investment, for better or worse the sharing economy has earned its place on the hype cycle of new trends and technologies in recent years. Use of the term and development of models have grown in parallel with the circular economy and the two concepts are clearly linked. This article will aim to answer some of the basic questions. What exactly do we mean by the term “sharing economy”? How does it relate to the circular economy? What are the main challenges or concerns about the growth of these models and what might this mean for a regenerative vision?

This lesson plan works as an excellent introduction to the circular economy for classes of all ages.

To take advantage of the financial benefits of a circular economy, firms will have to rethink their business models. The en-mass switch to 'Product Service Systems' has not yet begun, but the benefits for businesses and users is already there to see. Watch this event from the Disruptive Innovation Festival to learn how two firms and one design agency addresses these business models, and why.

The world is littered with examples of businesses that failed to adapt to changing circumstances and subsequently paid the price for it. Nokia, for example, had a 50% global market share for smartphones in 2007, but today fewer than 5% of smartphones in use were produced by them. Their mistakes, it is argued, were partly technical (battery failure) and partly because they didn't spot the potential in developing the platform ecosystem rather than the device portfolio. The context shifted, but the mindset appeared to be fixed. Substitute Nokia for Polaroid or HMV and you have a similar story: these companies didn't spot that change was in the air. While there is no magic formula for developing foresight, companies can create their own future by employing some tried and tested techniques. These techniques can help them become agile enough to keep ahead of the game, while generating new value opportunities against an ever-shifting context. Positioned on 5 continents, Business Models Inc have supported entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes to spot the drivers for change in their sector, and to adapt and thrive. Two of the Business Models Inc team speak to us in this show broadcast during the Disruptive Innovation Festival (DIF).

Incorporated in 1985, SunPower works in residential, commercial and utility-scale power plant markets. Today the company is a global leader in the solar industry, producing their one billionth solar cell in 2014. Why, in that case, did their COO, Marty Neese, systematically change how the business operated to fit within the framework of a circular economy? When Neese discovered the circular economy he was impressed enough to ask the SunPower staff to study Towards the Circular Economy as homework. Then he challenged them to come up with ways to improve the firm's work. The adventure has seen SunPower transform how they design, how they work with suppliers, and how they interact with customers. SunPower is still on that transformative journey, but it is clear the work is paying off. Find out why Marty Neese took the bold move of transforming a 30 year-old company into a circular business. Discover the strategic and operation difficulties SunPower faced on the way, and hear his thoughts on how this has worked so far.