Why should we favour circular economy business solutions?

Sitra’s Jyrki Katainen explained why transition to circularity should start today

“It is quite striking to know that less than 9% of the natural resources that we extract end up being reused. A total of 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress are caused by resource extraction and 45% of climate emissions are linked to making products. Global material use is estimated to more than double by 2060” – these were some of the shocking numbers Jyrki Katainen, the president of Sitra, brought up in our CX Week Webinar while speaking about the environmental crisis that the world is facing.

Sitra is a Finnish innovation fund that has raised circular economy as one of their focus areas. They have published a Circular Economy Playbook to help companies in their transformation to circularity and they bring out best practices and forerunner companies. Jyrki Katainen was also eager to point out that circular economy offers magnificent business opportunities. Accenture has estimated that on a global level, it will create a massive 4.5 trillion-dollar additional economic output by 2030.

He shared in his presentation that there are three major crises threatening the future of our planet: depletion of natural resources, climate change and biodiversity loss. They are all caused by the way we use and produce materials and products. He considers that the solution is to start systematic change to the economy so that we decouple natural resources use from economic growth.

Circular economy offers a solution for these challenges, and it needs to be the business model of today. “Rather than producing more and more goods, in a circular economy, we get more value from what we already have. And we keep that value in the economy for as long as possible through smarter design, digital solutions and a shift from owning products to using services,” Katainen explains.

He brought out up legislation and different initiatives like the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, which support and pushes circular economy solutions forward. Also, the currently held UN COP 26 conference will set guidelines for upcoming sustainability work in a global context.

See Jyrki Katainen’s full presentation in the recording.