A new report assessing 200 UK businesses and 1,500 consumers has revealed how a growing number of Circular Living strategies are helping many to improve their financial performance and mitigate against future uncertainties linked to climate change.
Produced by global environmental action NGO WRAP and OC&C Strategy Consultants the report ‘Are Businesses Leaving Money on the Table? – Creating Value through Circularity’ examines how a range of Circular Living strategies are now becoming more commonplace in UK boardrooms.
It shows how early adopters are benefiting from revenue growth, competitive advantages and cost saving – since 2020, circular industries have been growing 3.1%pts faster than linear industries and circular-native businesses have been growing up to 2x faster than linear competitors. And warns that many are missing out and risk future disruption linked to supply chain insecurities if they continue business as usual.
Catherine David, WRAP CEO explains: “Circular Living strategies are now firmly established in many businesses – large and small - but many more are missing out on the benefits they offer.
“Here we show how Circular Business Models can build resilience, unlock growth and help secure customer retention by staying relevant in an ever-changing marketplace. Our report highlights the key strategies and rewards they’re delivering and is essential reading for any business wishing to future-proof itself.”
The report shows that awareness of Circularity is relatively high in businesses and details how it’s helped improve financial performance, mitigate against supply chain risks, opened new business opportunities and enabled businesses to become more policy compliant. Ewan Parry, Parter at OC&C Strategy Consultants, said: "Our research uncovered that businesses pursuing circularity are benefiting much more than just improving their ‘green credentials.’
“Adopting Circularity can unlock real commercial value across a wide range of businesses, from driving new revenue streams, to boosting customer retention and loyalty, whilst also providing supply chain efficiencies. While circular initiatives are not one-size-fits-all, we’ve seen that when circular strategies are carefully designed and targeted, they can deliver tangible commercial benefits to businesses.
“For many companies, the next step is moving from awareness to action: embedding circularity in ways that supports long-term growth and competitive advantage." Circular Living Strategies separate value creation from spiralling overconsumption of virgin raw materials.
It is a design-make-reuse approach that helps to reduces waste and carbon emissions from products. For businesses, it means optimising design, prolonging product life and enabling effective recycling through more resource efficient production methods, and circular business models.
For people, Circular Living is about purchasing with greater consideration and extending product life through repair and resale. WRAP and OC&C Strategy Consultants found that circular design initiatives are the most common Circular strategies within the businesses assessed, with 60% now designing products for durability or repairability.
