Transitioning to a Circular Economy Webinar

Climate Action ran the Transitioning to a Circular Economy Webinar on 13th September 2017 and focussed on identifying the key barriers in this transition, including investment risks, the role of the government, the need for standards, the cultural mind shift and more.

The introduction to the webinar was as follows:

Circular economy advocates keeping products, components and materials at their highest utilities and value at all times, distinguishing between technical and biological cycles. Also that resources need to be kept in the system for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them while in use and then recovering and transforming products and materials to a new product at the end of their service life. This model is estimated to give a global benefit of $2 trillion.

The demand for a shift to the circular economy is increasing among businesses. The economic rationale for moving towards a circular economy is strong, as it increases the resilience of value chains and secures supply stability. Now a high-traction topic among policy-makers, business leaders and thinkers across the economy, circular economy thinking has begun to drive the development of circular business models in a variety of industries and in local governments.

Discussion points

• Can the context of waste be eliminated? What is the business, economic, regulatory and cultural shift needed to achieve this?
• If circular economy is worth billions to business, why has it not picked up yet? What are the barriers and risks, and how can they be removed? What are successful circular business models?
• What is the role of the government? How can policies truly incentivise a circular economy? How can standards remove investment barriers?
• Which are the most sustainable business models to create a platform that fosters sharing communities?
• How can we achieve the values, attitude, beliefs and behaviours shift needed in the consumer audience? How can direct purchasing decisions of consumers be influenced?
• How can producers, consumers and the government join forces to make the change?

Please view the webinar through following the link to the right of this page and registering with Climate Action (free) for access.