Circle Economy

Last week, our Circle Economy team, Morgane Veillet Lavallée and Giorgia Cherubini, was on the ground in Prato, Italy, for the SOLSTICE General Assembly—an energising moment to reconnect with partners. Our colleague Erik Roos Lindgreen, PhD shared a first look at the prospective environmental impact assessment we’re developing, offering an early estimation of the potential impact reductions driven by the SOLSTICE pilots. We also heard inspiring updates from all four regional pilots: Berlin’s jeans repair bonus system, Prato’s citizen-focused gamification app, Grenoble’s 4R sales and services hub, and an overview of upcoming activities in Catalonia. Each pilot shows how local action can deliver tangible impact. On the same day, we attended the event “From Demonstration to Scale: Regional Circular Textile Innovations in Prato,” which brought together 82 participants from industry, research, and public authorities. Our Value Chain Team Lead, Morgane Veillet Lavallée, spoke alongside partners Gregory Eve (greenApes) and Noemi Cei (Next Technology Tecnotessile) about collaboration, digital engagement, and innovative solutions emerging in Prato. The site visit to LANIFICIO FALIERO SARTI & FIGLI SRL presented a powerful reminder of how tradition and innovation can reinforce each other. We left Prato inspired by the collective progress and motivated for what’s ahead. Onwards! 🚀

🛍 #BlackFriday is around the corner, and it’s worth remembering that ‘green’ labels don’t equate guilt-free shopping. Corporate greenwashing is on the rise. As more products carry tags like ‘recycled’ or ‘eco-friendly’, our consumption habits are actually becoming less sustainable. The Circularity Gap Report 2025 shows that between 2018 and 2021, the use of recycled materials grew by 200 million tonnes. Sounds great, until you see the other side: our total material consumption rose even faster, wiping out these gains. Even goods made from recycled materials still take energy and resources to produce and transport. They can still fuel overconsumption and waste. A simple Black Friday reminder: 🛠 Maintain, repair and reuse before buying anything new ♻️‘Recycled’, ‘eco-friendly’ & ‘second-hand’ do not justify overconsumption 💚 If you do buy something, choose only what you truly need and will use for a long time. … and read our Circularity Gap Report 2025 to uncover the true costs of overconsumption: https://lnkd.in/evGjxUQG   #BlackFriday #CircularEconomy #Greenwashing #Overconsumption #CircularityGapReport

Household electronics contain a surprising array of valuable materials: precious and base metals, rare earth elements, copper, lithium and other battery metals that are worth recovering. Yet much of this potential goes unleveraged, as around half of EU citizens simply keep their old or unused devices at home. How are EU policies addressing this issue, and what can individuals do to save their old devices from going to waste? Find out in our newest blog article penned by Tamara Iskandar 👇

Join us for the launch of the global circular economy employment baseline—in Geneva and online! The product of three years of collaboration between Circle Economy, the International Labour Organization, and The World Bank Group, this report will set the new global standard for measuring employment in the circular economy. The launch event will bring together representatives of employers, workers, academia, international organisations and the private sector to present and discuss: ✅ The first global estimate of employment in the circular economy. ✅ The breakdown of circular economy employment for regions and income groups, by gender, and by the level of informality. ✅ Measures to ensure a just and jobs-rich transition to the circular economy. Join our event and hear directly from the report authors and other speakers, including from Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) that supported the report! 📆When: Thursday, December 4, 2025, 14:00-15:30 CET / 8:00-9:30am ET 🌏 Where: Geneva and online 👉Register here: https://lnkd.in/d3Rq3j7f #CircularEconomy #CircularJobs #JustTransition #decentwork UNEP-WCMC, UNDP, UNIDO and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

The cost of NOT transitioning to the circular economy is quantified for the first time! In Sweden alone, it amounts to SEK 600 billion (€54.6 billion), reinforcing the business case for circularity. Meet the CGR® the Value Gap: Sweden—the first national application of our new methodology to quantify economic value lost in a linear system. Together with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and RE:Source-SIP, Circle Economy uncovered how much value leaks away through avoidable waste, underutilised goods, and missed efficiency gains. Sweden’s Value Gap stands at 19%, revealing that linear practices cost the country nearly one-fifth of its current economic value. And the good news: much of this value could be recaptured by adopting circular practices. Discover how Sweden could reclaim value through circular solutions, and what this means for businesses, policymakers, and society: https://lnkd.in/eNvxB7_F

News from the SOLSTICE project! Circle Economy's team participated in a event in Prato, where one of the project's pilots aims to transform the local textile ecosystem. Here are the highlights from the event 👇

Look who’s about to turn ten! The Value Hill is arguably the single most recognised infographic produced by Circle Economy, back in 2016. In the run-up to its ten-year anniversary, we’re working on an important update to this concept. But first, let’s refresh your memory and climb the Value Hill together. The value in our economy is added through: ➕ Extraction—when raw materials are taken from the Earth ➕ Manufacturing—when they’re refined and made into components ➕ Assembly—when the final product comes together ➕ Retail—when it’s transported and sold to the user Take an item nearby—a mobile phone, a T-shirt, a cup—and think about what it took to bring it into your hand. All these stages require labour, energy, and transportation, which come at both financial and environmental costs. A pity if that value disappears in the blink of an eye. Yet that’s exactly what happens in a linear economy. After all the effort—and expense—of climbing the Value Hill, the descent is steep and rapid. An item ends up in the bin, only to be burned or landfilled. A circular economy offers a better way. Instead of losing all value at once, we can retain it by: ↩️ Repairing and maintaining—prolonging the lifetime of items ↩️ Reusing and redistributing—finding a new owner for a still-functional item ↩️ Refurbishing—restoring it so it lasts longer ↩️ Remanufacturing—creating new products from old ones ↩️ Recycling—extracting valuable materials from items that can’t be fixed This is already a solid foundation for change. But what if we could quantify the exact monetary value 💵 lost in a linear economy—and the value that could be saved in a circular one. That would make a compelling case for circular policies. 👉Join us for the launch of the CGR® The Value Gap: Sweden, and be among the first to learn how much value the circular economy can retain: https://lnkd.in/d4BTUvxs 📆Date: 24 November 🕑 Time: 13.00-13.45 CET 📍 Location: Online through Teams #circulareconomy #valuehill #value

Global Circularity Protocol (GCP) for Business was launched last week, setting the global standard for circular economy measurement for years to come. The GCP introduces a global, interoperable framework for measuring, managing, and communicating companies’ circular performance and impacts. Circle Economy is proud to have contributed our expertise to the development of this standard coordinated by the WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development in partnership with the UNEP-WCMC-hosted One Planet network - 10YFP. Discover what the GCP means for your business and learn how to apply this framework to measure your circular economy performance in our latest blog, penned by Ching Shing Sin and Gamze Ünlü: https://lnkd.in/e99jPSjd

Only 2.5% of materials in Québec come from recycled sources. This is almost a third less than just four years ago. Why? While recycling rates are increasing worldwide, material consumption is rising much faster. This makes it hard for recycling systems to keep up and drives circularity down. Moreover, a significant portion of the materials are locked in stocks, such as buildings and roads, and are unavailable for recycling. This trend is also true for Québec, where material consumption has risen significantly since 2021. Reliance on the ever-increasing use of raw materials makes the provincial economy susceptible to external shocks like trade wars, geopolitical tensions, and climate-induced natural disasters. Building a circular economy in Québec today is more crucial than ever. Discover how in our updated Circularity Gap Report (CGR®) Québec, brought to you by Circle Economy in collaboration with RECYC-QUÉBEC: https://lnkd.in/ebp4hTKY

In 2022, C40 mayors pledged to create 50 million good green jobs by 2030. Three years later, they are already delivering on their commitment, working with partners to drive green job creation, decent work, and inclusivity. Together with C40 Cities, Circle Economy analysed green jobs in 81 megacities across the globe. The resulting report not only presents global data and insights but also highlights the stories of people behind the numbers. We’re excited to share five inspiring case studies showcasing how C40 cities are leading an inclusive green transition. 👉 Discover more in the full report https://lnkd.in/gH3KBFwp And stay tuned: our next major publication will zoom in on circular jobs at the global level. 🌍